John McCrady
John McCrady (born October 15, 1831 in Charleston , South Carolina , † October 16, 1881 in Nashville , Tennessee ) was an American zoologist .
Life
McCrady, the third of 14 children of a lawyer, attended college in Charleston, where he was strongly influenced by lectures by Louis Agassiz , so that he studied at the Lawrence Scientific School of Harvard University with Agassiz between 1852 and 1855 . During the civil war he was a Confederate officer. After his defeat in the Civil War, he fell into depression and gave up his professorship at the college in Charleston, where he had taught mathematics in particular. At Agassiz's request, he came to the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard in 1873, and when Agassiz died a little later, he succeeded him as Professor of Zoology at Harvard. Since he did not like the political environment at Harvard and he was often ill, he gave up the professorship in 1877 and became a professor at the University of the South at Sewanee .
He pioneered the exploration of the hydroids with his study of the hydroids in Charleston Harbor.
McCrady dealt mainly with hydroids and cnidarians . He first described various taxa of jellyfish (13 species, two families, five genera). He also published on fossil echinoderms. Various taxa were named after him. Like his teacher Agassiz, he also tried to scientifically underpin racial differences (and especially the superiority of the white race he propagated) in humans. He criticized (like his teacher Agassiz) Charles Darwin's theory of evolution and pursued the establishment of his own laws of development.
He married in 1859 and had six children.
The hydrozoe Clytia mccradyi and the comb jellyfish Mnemiopsis mccradyi are named in his honor. He was a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1874).
literature
- Lester D. Stephens, Dale Calder: John McCrady of South Carolina: pioneer student of North American Hydrozoa, Archives of Natural History, Volume 19, 1992, pp. 39-54
Fonts
- Gymnopthalmata of Charleston Harbor, Proc. Charleston's Elliott Society of Natural History 1859
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | McCrady, John |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American zoologist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | October 15, 1831 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Charleston , South Carolina |
| DATE OF DEATH | October 16, 1881 |
| Place of death | Nashville , Tennessee |