Alexander Agassiz | |
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| Born | Alexander Emmanuel Rodolphe Agassiz (1835-12-17)December 17, 1835 Neuchâtel, Switzerland |
| Died | March 27, 1910(1910-03-27) (aged 74) North Atlantic Ocean (aboard theRMSAdriatic) |
| Alma mater | Harvard University (AB,BS) |
| Children | 3, includingRodolphe Louis Agassiz |
| Father | Louis Agassiz |
| Awards | American Philosophical Society (1862) Pour le Mérite (German order) |
| Scientific career | |
| Author abbrev. (zoology) | A. Agassiz, A. Ag. |
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Alexander Emmanuel Rodolphe Agassiz (December 17, 1835 – March 27, 1910), son ofLouis Agassiz and stepson ofElizabeth Cabot Agassiz, was an American scientist and engineer.[1]
Agassiz was born inNeuchâtel, Switzerland, and immigrated to the United States in 1849, joining his fatherLouis Agassiz, after his mother Cecile (Braun) Agassiz died in 1848. Thereupon, his father enrolled him in theCambridge High School, before entering Harvard at the age of 15.[2] He graduated fromHarvard University in 1855, subsequently studyingengineering andchemistry, and taking the degree ofBachelor of Science at theLawrence Scientific School of the same institution in 1857; in 1859 became an assistant in theUnited States Coast Survey,[3] onboard the Fauntleroy. In 1860, he became an agent for theMuseum of Comparative Zoology, and married Anna Russell.[2]: 25–28 Thenceforward he became a specialist in marineichthyology.[4] Agassiz was elected a Fellow of theAmerican Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1862.[5] Up until the summer of 1866, Agassiz worked as assistant curator in the museum of natural history that his father founded at Harvard.[6]
E. J. Hulbert persuaded Agassiz's brother-in-law,Quincy Adams Shaw, and friends to invest in a rich copper lode discovered onMichigan'sKeweenaw Peninsula, called theCalumet Mine. In 1866, Agassiz visited theoutcrop and noted that the CalumetConglomerate was aporphyry almost fourteen feet wide,dipping to the northwest at a 35 degree angle. The rich nature of the deposit convinced Shaw to purchase the land to the south, forming the Hecla Mining Company. Agassiz was then made treasurer of both companies. Disappointed in Hulbert's management of the Calumet, Agassiz replaced Hulbert with a new manager called Davis in December. Agassiz states, "I have put in every cent of mine into these two mines." Convinced the deposit could be developed at a profit, Agassiz was made superintendent of both mines, and arrived on site in March 1867. Upon arrival, Agassiz noted that Hulbert earlier that year was "...concealing the true nature of things and making estimates out of all proportion with what he must have known the expenses to be." One of the first projects Agassiz undertook was to change the openings of both mines so "the rock could be extracted with legitimate mining methods." With further investment from John Simpkins, improvements were made to the mills and almost 5 miles of railroad. In July, Agassiz's family joined him. By September 1868, Hecla was producing 185 tons ofingot, the Calumet 140, and bothmills stamping 4000 tons of rock per month. Agassiz was able to place George Hardie in charge, and returned to Cambridge in October. Agassiz continued to visit the mines every spring and fall.[2]: 53–85
In December 1869, the Hecla paid its first dividend, and the Calumet did so in August 1870. In May 1871, the Calumet and Hecla Mining Company was formed after consolidating with the Portland and Scott Mining Companies. Shaw was the first president, but soon retired to the board of directors, when Agassiz assumed the presidency until his death.[2]: 85
In 1883, Agassiz innovated by installing a giant engine, known as the Superior, which was able to lift 24 tons of rock from a depth of 1,200 metres (3,900 feet). He also built a railroad and dredged a channel to navigable waters. WithErasmus Darwin Leavitt Jr. employed as his mechanical engineer, Agassiz installed state of the art hoisting engines. Out of his copper fortune, he gave some US$500,000 to Harvard for the museum of comparativezoology and other purposes.[7][2]: 86–87
In 1875, Agassiz built a marine laboratory on his summer estate located at Castle Hill,Newport, Rhode Island, hoping to carry on the work his father started atPenikese Island. In 1877, Agassiz opened the Newport Marine Zoological Laboratory. Agassiz hosted grad students there until 1897, and continued to use the lab until his death.[8]
He was a member of the scientific-expedition to South America in 1875, where he inspected the copper mines ofPeru andChile, and made extended surveys ofLake Titicaca, besides collecting invaluable Peruvian antiquities,[6] which he gave to theMuseum of Comparative Zoology (MCZ), of which he was first curator from 1874 to 1885 and then director until his death in 1910, his personal secretaryElizabeth Hodges Clark running the day-to-day management of the MCZ when his work took him abroad.[9][10][11] He assistedCharles Wyville Thomson in the examination and classification of the collections of the 1872Challenger Expedition, and wrote theReview of the Echini (2 vols., 1872–1874) in the reports. Between 1877 and 1880, he took part in the threedredging expeditions of the steamerBlake of the Coast Survey (renamed theUnited States Coast and Geodetic Survey in 1878), and presented a full account of them in two volumes (1888).[4] Also in 1875, he was elected as a member of theAmerican Philosophical Society.[12]
In 1896, Agassiz visitedFiji andQueensland and inspected theGreat Barrier Reef, publishing a paper on the subject in 1898.
Of Agassiz's other writings on marine zoology, most are contained in the bulletins and memoirs of the museum of comparative zoology. However, in 1865, he published withElizabeth Cary Agassiz, his stepmother,Seaside Studies in Natural History, a work at once exact and stimulating. They also published, in 1871,Marine Animals of Massachusetts Bay.[4]
He received the German OrderPour le Mérite for Science and Arts in August 1902.[13] Agassiz also received the Victoria Research Medal, and theLegion of Honour.[14]
Agassiz served as a president of theNational Academy of Sciences, which since 1913 has awarded theAlexander Agassiz Medal in his memory. He died in 1910 on board theRMSAdriatic en route to New York fromSouthampton.[15]
He and his wife Anna Russell (1840–1873) were the parents of three sons – George Russell Agassiz (1861–1951), Maximilian Agassiz (1866–1943) andRodolphe Louis Agassiz (1871–1933).
Alexander Agassiz is commemorated in the scientific name of a species of lizard,Anolis agassizi, and a fish,Leptochilichthys agassizii.[16][17]
A statue of Alexander Agassiz erected in 1923 is located in Calumet, Michigan, next to his summer home where he stayed while fulfilling his duties as president of the Calumet and Hecla Mining Company. The Company Headquarters, Agassiz' statue, and many other buildings and landmarks from the now defunct company are administered and maintained by theKeweenaw National Historical Park, whose headquarters overlook the statue of Agassiz.[18]
A major building of theHopkins Marine Station is named after him.[19]
The RV (research vessel) Agassiz is named after him.[20]
Alexander Emmanuel Rudolph Agassiz, better known to the world as Alexander Agassiz, simply, was for nearly half a century, in portions of the 19th and 20th, one of the most remarkable scientists of his time, but, unlike nearly all others who have devoted their lives to original research, he was a man of wealth which counted among the millions.
One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Agassiz, Alexander Emanuel".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 1 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 366–367.
One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Johnson, Rossiter, ed. (1906). "Agassiz, Alexander Emmanuel Rudolph".The Biographical Dictionary of America. Vol. 1. Boston: American Biographical Society. pp. 59–60.
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