Charles Pickering (naturalist)
Charles Pickering (born November 10, 1805 in Susquehanna Depot , Pennsylvania , † March 17, 1878 in Boston , Massachusetts ) was an American naturalist . As a medical graduate, he dealt primarily with botany , zoology and anthropology . His author's abbreviation is " Pickering ".
Life
Charles Pickering was born in Susquehanna County , Pennsylvania in 1805 . His grandfather was Timothy Pickering , a politician and third United States Secretary of State . In 1823 he began studying at Harvard College , but switched to Harvard Medical School before graduating , where he received his MD in 1826. He then worked as a doctor in Philadelphia , but continued to study botany and zoology in parallel . As a result, he was hired as a curator at the Academy of Natural Sciences (now part of Drexel University ), where he also acted as a librarian .
Due to his reputation as a naturalist , which has grown in the meantime , Pickering was chosen as one of the participating scientists for the United States Exploring Expedition , with which he toured the South Pacific between 1838 and 1842 . The expedition , in which he primarily participated as a zoologist or ichthyologist , however, ensured that Pickering turned more and more to anthropology due to the contact with the indigenous peoples . In 1848, after he had undertaken further trips at his own expense, he published the work "Races of Man and Their Geographical Distribution" , in which he dealt with the races of mankind and their geographical distribution. In a similar pattern, he also wrote several books on the distribution of plants and animals on earth.
Pickering was a member of the American Philosophical Society and, since 1845, of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences . The gray island pigeon (Ducula pickeringii) and a subspecies of the common garter snake ( Thamnophis sirtalis pickeringii ) were named after him. In addition, Charles Wilkes , head of the United States Exploring Expedition, named it in honor of the Pickering Passage , a strait in southwest Puget Sound that separates Harstine Island from the mainland.
Pickering had been married since 1851 and remained childless. He died in Boston on March 17, 1878, at the age of 72.
Fonts (selection)
- Chronological history of plants. Boston 1879.
Web links
literature
- Charles Pickering. In: Proceedings of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Vol. 13, 1877-1878, pp. 441-444. ( Digitized ; also available online at jstor.org )
Individual evidence
- ↑ Book of Members 1780 – present, Chapter P. (PDF; 649 kB) In: American Academy of Arts and Sciences (amacad.org). Retrieved May 3, 2018 .
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Pickering, Charles |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American naturalist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | November 10, 1805 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Susquehanna Depot , Pennsylvania , United States |
| DATE OF DEATH | March 17, 1878 |
| Place of death | Boston , Massachusetts , United States |