Jean Louis Rodolphe Agassiz (May 28, 1807 – December 14, 1873
Agassiz early education was done at home followed by secondary school in Bienne. He turned to medicine for his higher education, attending the University of Zurich, Heidelberg and Munich. Here he began to study natural history, especially on botany. IN 1829 he received a degree in philosophy and in 1830 got his doctorate in medicine. After receiving his degrees, Agassiz moved to Paris where he studied under Alexander von Humboldt and Georges Cuvier, inspiring his work in geology, zoology and ichthyology.
In 1829 Agassiz began his research on fish found in the Amazon by Johann Baptist von Spix and Carl Friedrich Philipp von Martius. His research on the Brazilian fish led him to researching fish found in Lake Neuchatel. His published works were completed in 1842. He began to travel around Europe, gathering information from various museums. Thanks to his hard work and studies, Agassiz soon realized a new classification was necessary to incorporate his finds. In conjecture with his study on ichthyology, Agassiz proposed that the Earth had experience an Ice Age at some point in its history. His theory brought him to various countries across Europe, gathering evidence to support his claim.
In 1846 Agassiz continued his travels, this time across the Atlantic to the United States. He had hoped to research glacial and geological patterns in the United States while being invited to lecture at the Lowell Institute in Boston. After his lectures, Agassiz helped establish the Lawrence Scientific School at Harvard in 1847. He was then offered a professorship at Harvard in zoology and geology. In 1859 Agassiz founded the Museum of Comparative Zoology, where he was the head curator until his death in 1873- upon which his son was named curator. |
Alexander Emannual Agassiz (December 17, 1835 – March 27, 1910),
Alexander Agassiz was born in Neuchatel, Switzerland on December 17th, 1835. He was the son of famous ____ Louis Agassiz. In 1849 Alexander and Louis emigrated to the United States. Once in the United States, Alexander attended Harvard and graduated in 1855 having studied engineering and chemistry. Following which he studied at the Lawrence scientific school earning a bachelor of science degree in 1857. After graduating Agassiz traveled to California in 1859 as an assistant on a coast survey.
Having graduated with a specialty in marine ichthyology, Alexander focused mainly on mines. His main focus was on mines found in Michigan on Lake Superior, trying to extract copper. He would travel later to Lake Titicaca in Peru along with other copper mines in South America. Under his urging, Agassiz and several other friends purchased the controlling shares in Calumet and Hecla Mining Company.
From his work on the coast survey, Agassiz was able to contribute numerous specimens to Cambridge Museum. He worked as an assistant in the museum of natural history at Cambridge under his father. After extensive travel, Alexander returned to Cambridge in 1870 where he worked as assistant of the museum. Following his father’s death in 1874, Alexander became the curator of the museum until 1885. Alexander’s travels made him one of the foremost experts on marine biology. He died while traveling upon the USS Adriatic in 1910. |