Joseph Leidy
Joseph Leidy (born September 9, 1823 in Philadelphia / Pennsylvania , † April 30, 1891 ibid) was an American anatomist , paleontologist and protozoologist .
Leidy came from a family of artisans from Wittenberg who emigrated to America in the 18th century, studied medicine in Philadelphia and received his doctorate in 1844.
He was from 1853 professor of anatomy at the University of Pennsylvania , from 1871 professor of natural history at Swarthmore College . In his book Extinct Fauna of Dakota and Nebraska , which appeared in 1869, he described many previously unknown, extinct species of North America .
For example, he described the first almost intact fossil skeleton of a dinosaur found by William Parker Foulke in Haddonfield , New Jersey , and named the species Hadrosaurus foulkii .
Beyond paleontology, Leidy made a name for himself as a parasitologist . He discovered in 1846 that trichinella was caused by a parasite , Trichinella spiralis , in raw or poorly cooked meat.
Even before Charles Darwin , he suspected that the environment could influence organisms. When Darwin published his theory, Leidy was enthusiastic about it. Occasionally he was accused of atheism for this .
In 1879 he published the Freshwater Rhizopods of North America , a pioneering work on the protists of North America.
Leidy was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1848 and a member of the Leopoldina in 1857 . From 1858 he was a corresponding member of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences , in 1863 he was one of the founding members of the National Academy of Sciences .
literature
- Barbara I. Tshisuaka: Leidy, Joseph. In: Werner E. Gerabek et al. (Ed.): Enzyklopädie Medizingeschichte. De Gruyter, Berlin / New York 2005, ISBN 3-11-015714-4 , p. 837.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Carl von Voit : Joseph Leidy (obituary) . In: Meeting reports of the mathematical-physical class of the KB Academy of Sciences in Munich . tape 22 , 1892, p. 198–199 ( online [PDF; accessed March 3, 2017]).
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Leidy, Joseph |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American paleontologist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | September 9, 1823 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Philadelphia |
| DATE OF DEATH | April 30, 1891 |
| Place of death | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |