The New Student's Reference Work/Agassiz, Louis Jean Rodolphe

The New Student's Reference Work
Agassiz, Louis Jean Rodolphe
40021The New Student's Reference Work — Agassiz, Louis Jean Rodolphe


Agassiz (ăg′a-sē), Louis Jean Rodolphe, a distinguished naturalist, was born at Motiers, Switzerland, May 28, 1807. After years of study he began to write on scientific subjects. His reputation was made by his book, Studies of Glaciers. In 1846 he became professor of zoology and geology at Harvard College. He made explorations in Brazil and in the South Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Agassiz was not merely a learned naturalist, but a great force. He did much by public lectures and by teaching to make natural history popular. He trained many young naturalists who have carried out his methods. He founded the Agassiz Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard College. His Methods of Study in Natural History and Contributions to the Natural History of the United States are his most popular works. He died at Cambridge. Mass., Dec. 14, 1873.

His son, Alexander (1835–1910), also a distinguished naturalist and writer, was from 1874 to 1897 chief curator of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Cambridge, Mass.