Alexander Agassiz
Alexander Em (m) anuel Rodolph Agassiz (born December 17, 1835 in Neuchâtel / Switzerland ; † March 27, 1910 on the Adriatic (II) of the United States on the way from Southampton to New York ) was a Swiss-American geologist and anatomist . He was Professor of Zoology at Harvard University and Director of the Museum of Comparative Zoology , now known as the Louis Agassiz Museum of Comparative Zoology . He is the son of Louis Agassiz and the stepson of Elizabeth Cary Agassiz .
life and work
In 1849 he emigrated to the USA with his father Louis Agassiz. There he began studying engineering and chemistry, which he completed with a Bachelor of Science from the Lawrence Scientific School. He then worked until 1859 as an assistant at the US Coast and Geodetic Survey . In 1862 he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences , in 1866 to the National Academy of Sciences, and in 1875 to the American Philosophical Society . From 1865 to 1869 he studied biology at Harvard University . In 1882 Agassiz was elected a member of the Leopoldina , in 1886 a corresponding member of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and 1887 of the Académie des Sciences . Since 1897 he was an honorary member ("Honorary Fellow") of the Royal Society of Edinburgh .
In 1902 he received the order Pour le Mérite of the Sciences and Arts.
Like his father, Alexander Agassiz was a specialist in ichthyology . As superintendent and geologist, he was responsible for copper mines. He led larger American expeditions, for example to the copper mines of Peru and Chile in 1875 . The marine expeditions brought him to the West Indies , the Fiji Islands , Panama , Galápagos Islands , Australia and the Great Barrier Reef, among others .
His father Louis Agassiz founded the Museum of Comparative Zoology . Alexander Agassiz took over the management of the museum from him until 1880 together with Louis-François de Pourtalès , but - in contrast to his father - he was oriented towards the Darwinian worldview . He devoted a large part of his work to evolutionary research .
Alexander Agassiz was President of the National Academy of Sciences from 1901 to 1907 . The Alexander Agassiz Medal of the National Academy of Sciences, which has been awarded for achievements in oceanography since 1913, is named in his honor .
Alexander Agassiz Professorships
The Alexander Agassiz Professorship in Zoology at Harvard University is considered a prestigious position. The professorships had, among others:
- Richard Lewontin
- Ernst Mayr 1953–1975
- Stephen Jay Gould 1982-2002
- Irvine George Lauder
Publications
- On the embryology of echinoderms. In: Mem. Ann. Acad. Arts and Sci. Vol.9, 1864 doi: 10.5962 / bhl.title.11350
- with EC Agassiz: Seaside Studies in Natural History. , Boston JR Osgood & Co., 1865
- North American Acephalae. Cambridge 1865 doi: 10.5962 / bhl.title.40081 doi: 10.5962 / bhl.title.1837 doi: 10.5962 / bhl.title.11629
- Embryology of the starfish . Boston 1865 doi: 10.5962 / bhl.title.62277
- Seaside studies in natural history . Boston 1865 doi: 10.5962 / bhl.title.18084 doi: 10.5962 / bhl.title.1802
- Seaside studies in natural history . Boston 1871 doi: 10.5962 / bhl.title.55568 doi: 10.5962 / bhl.title.11143
- Revision of the Echini . Cambridge 1872–1874 doi: 10.5962 / bhl.title.40080
- North American starfishes . Cambridge 1877 doi: 10.5962 / bhl.title.15789
- On the young stages of some osseous fishes . 1877–1882 doi: 10.5962 / bhl.title.52001
- Selections from embryological monographs . Cambridge 1882–1884 doi: 10.5962 / bhl.title.15858
- The Porpitidæ and Velellidæ . Cambridge 1883 doi: 10.5962 / bhl.title.15857
- Report on the Echini . Cambridge 1883 doi: 10.5962 / bhl.title.15905
- Selections from embryological monographs: Crustacea. Volume 3: Acalephs and polyps , Cambridge, 1884.
- The development of osseous fishes . Cambridge 1885–1915 doi: 10.5962 / bhl.title.49093 doi: 10.5962 / bhl.title.13160
- A to American thalassography: Three cruises of the United States Coast and geodetic survey steamer "Blake", in the gulf of Mexico, in the Caribbean sea, and along the Atlantic coast of the United States, from 1877 to 1880 . Boston 1888 doi: 10.5962 / bhl.title.2049 doi: 10.5962 / bhl.title.29828 doi: 10.5962 / bhl.title.21866 doi: 10.5962 / bhl.title.26524
- Calamocrinus diomedæ: a new stalked crinoid, with notes on the apical system and the homologies of echinoderms . Cambridge 1892 doi: 10.5962 / bhl.title.16301
- Medusæ . Cambridge 1902 doi: 10.5962 / bhl.title.41325
- Preliminary report and list of stations . Cambridge 1902 doi: 10.5962 / bhl.title.48599
- The coral reefs of the Maldives . Cambridge 1903 doi: 10.5962 / bhl.title.41520
- The coral reefs of the tropical Pacific . Cambridge 1903 doi: 10.5962 / bhl.title.41332 doi: 10.5962 / bhl.title.46252
- The Panamic deep sea Echini . Cambridge 1904 doi: 10.5962 / bhl.title.41526
- General report of the expedition . Cambridge 1906 doi: 10.5962 / bhl.title.41527
- Hawaiian and other Pacific Echini . Cambridge 1907–1917 doi: 10.5962 / bhl.title.42203
- Echini. The genus Colobocentrotus . Cambridge 1908 doi: 10.5962 / bhl.title.48983
- The shore fishes . Cambridge 1911 doi: 10.5962 / bhl.title.39787
literature
- GL Goodale: Biographical memoir of Alexander Agassiz 1835-1910. In: Nat. Acad. Sciences Biographical memoirs , Part of Vol. 7
- AH Duppen: Alexander Agassiz. In: Dictionary of Scientific Biography , Charles Scribner's Son, New York, 1970, Part 1, pp. 71-72.
- RR Agassiz: Alexander Agassiz. Letters and Recollections of Alexander Agassiz: With a Sketch of his Life and Work , Mifflin Comp., 1913 doi: 10.5962 / bhl.title.22462 doi: 10.5962 / bhl.title.53450
Web links
- Publications by and about Alexander Agassiz in the Helveticat catalog of the Swiss National Library
- Heinz Balmer : Agassiz, Alexander. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
- Mining Hall of Fame Inductees Database: Agassiz, Alexander (engl.)
- Photo by Alexander Agassiz
- Online version of one of his works in the Biolib (Kurt Stüber)
Individual evidence
- ↑ according to Encyclopædia Britannica
- ^ A. von Humboldt, I. Schwarz: Alexander von Humboldt and the United States of America: Correspondence. Akademie Verlag, 2004, p. 394. ISBN 3-05-002776-2
- ↑ Member entry of Alexander Agassiz at the German Academy of Natural Scientists Leopoldina , accessed on February 3, 2016.
- ↑ Member entry by Alexandre Emanuel Agassiz (with picture) at the Bavarian Academy of Sciences , accessed on February 3, 2016.
- ↑ shaper RSE Fellows 1783-2002. Royal Society of Edinburgh, accessed October 4, 2019 .
- ↑ Swiss Hall of Fame: Swiss celebrities from over 2000 years
- ^ Agassiz, Alexander ( Memento from January 22, 2012 in the Internet Archive ), Heidelberg University of Education.
- ↑ U. Kutschera: Biologen heute 4, 18-19, 2002 , University of Kassel
- ↑ Obituary for Ernst Mayr (PDF; 48 kB)
- ^ Phyllodrom, circular of the society for the establishment of an institute and museum for rain forest ecology eV. Obituary Stephen Jay Gould
- ↑ George V. Lauder, Professor of Biology Curator of Ichthyology in the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Alexander Agassiz Professor of Zoology ( Memento from April 30, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
personal data | |
---|---|
SURNAME | Agassiz, Alexander |
ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Agassiz, Alexander Em (m) anuel Rodolph (full name) |
BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Swiss-American geologist and anatomist |
DATE OF BIRTH | December 17, 1835 |
PLACE OF BIRTH | Neuchâtel |
DATE OF DEATH | March 27, 1910 |
Place of death | on the Adriatic (II) |