William Stimpson

William Stimpson

William Stimpson (born February 14, 1832 in Roxbury , Boston , † May 26, 1872 in Ilchester , Maryland ) was an American naturalist and zoologist who specialized in marine invertebrates.

Live and act

William Stimpson was born on February 14, 1832 to Herbert Hathorne Stimpson and Mary Ann Devereau Brewer in Roxbury, a borough of Boston. When he was fifteen, he read the Invertebrata of Massachusetts by zoologist Augustus Addison Gould . This deepened his interest in the natural sciences, which he had had since childhood. He spent his school education at Boston High School, which he successfully completed in 1848. In 1849 he collected mussels in eastern Canada. From 1850 to 1852 he studied under Louis Agassiz at Harvard University .

At the age of 21 he took part as a naturalist in the North Pacific Exploring Expedition from 1853 to 1856 , which led to Japan, Asia and the Bering Strait . During the trip he studied and collected mostly marine molluscs. Upon his return, the Smithsonian Institution made space available to him for his extensive collection. Shortly thereafter, he was appointed curator of the newly established Invertebrate Department. He founded the Megatherium Club while working at the Smithsonian Institution, classifying and describing his own marine organisms and those collected by the Institute . Members included Robert Kennicott , Ferdinand Vandeveer Hayden , James E. Cooper , John Strong Newberry and Fielding Bradford Meek .

On July 28, 1864, he married Annie Gordon, with whom he had three children. The following year he took over the position of his friend, zoologist Robert Kennicott, as director of the Academy of Sciences in Chicago . In preparation for his invertebrate studies, he expanded his own collection by borrowing from the Smithsonian Institution and other scientific collections. In 1868 he was accepted as the youngest member of the National Academy of Sciences .

A serious setback occurred on October 8, 1871. During the Great Fire in Chicago , despite the fire-proof construction, all manuscripts and the largest and most important collection of marine invertebrates to date were destroyed. William Stimpson never fully recovered from this blow. Nevertheless, he tried hard to continue his work.

William Stimpson died of tuberculosis on May 26, 1872 at the age of forty in Ilchester, Maryland . He published several papers and scientifically described around 950 species.

Honors

Numerous marine species have been named after him in honor of William Stimpson:

Amphiura stimpsoni Americorophium stimpsoni Anthothoe stimpsoni Bathycongrus stimpsoni Beringius stimpsoni Colus stimpsoni Conus stimpsoni Corophium stimpsoni Coryphella stimpsoni Cuthona stimpsoni Eupleura stimpsoni

Gastrochaena stimpsoni Haloclava stimpsoni Heptacarpus stimpsoni Liomesus stimpsoni Munida stimpsoni Neocorycodus stimpsoni Pagurus stimpsoni Panulirus stimpsoni Parisocladus stimpsoni Placiphorella stimpsoni Porcellana stimpsoni

Sicydium stimpsoni Sicyonia stimpsoni Sicyopterus stimpsoni Solaster stimpsoni Stilifer stimpsoni Thracia stimpsoni Transennella stimpsoni Troglocarcinus stimpsoni Truncatella stimpsoni Turbonilla stimpsoni Turritellopsis stimpsoni

Works

A selection of his works:

• A Revision and Synonymy of the Mestraceous Mollusks of New England (1851)
• Synopsis of the Marine Invertebrata of Grand Manan (1853)
• Notes on North American Crustacea (1859)

Web links

Commons : William Stimpson  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Memorandum on William Stimpson (National Academy of Sciences) (PDF; English; 931 kB)
• Megatherium Club (Smithsonian Institute )