Swiss-born biologist, Jean Louis Rodolphe Agassiz or Louis Agassiz was a
man of many talents. Geologist, teacher, physician and an important
innovator in the spectrum of natural sciences, Louis was known for his
works on extinct fishes and glacier activity. Born to clergyman father
and scientifically-inclined mother, Louis, pursued both religion and
science with great fervour. Initially he was home schooled, but he went
to Bienne to finish his secondary education, eventually landing in
Lausanne to complete his elementary years. Louis studied medicine at the
universities of Zurich, Heidelberg and Munich, but showed his aptitude
in natural history, especially Botany. After obtaining Doctor of
Philosophy and Doctor of Medicine, Louis went to Paris, and under the
mentorship of Humboldt and Cuvier studied geology and zoology. After he
secured a teaching job at Neuchatel in Switzerland, he devoted thirteen
years researching on various streams of natural science. Louis was
offered professorship in Harvard after his successful lecture at the
Lowell Institute in Boston. His teaching methods were different and
innovative and changed the way natural science was taught in United
States. In the last few years, he undertook many projects including the
establishment of a permanent school for pursuing zoological science and
marine zoology. Read on to know more about his life and works.
Childhood & Early Life
On
May 28th, 1807, Louis was born to Protestant pastor Jean Louis Rodolphe
and Rose Mayor Agassiz in Motier in the tiny hamlet of Fribourg. Jean
was the last in the long line of Protestant clergymen and infused a
sense of religion in his child. His mother on the other hand encouraged
Agassiz’s interest in science.
Major Work
His
work ‘Recherchessur les poisons fossiles’ which includes all the
information about fossil fishes is considered as a Bible for researchers
interested in extinct life and species.
His
‘Essay on Classification’ was published in 1851 and consisted all his
major thoughts about the natural world and how all living beings have
been created by one God, a major point of contention between him and
Charles Darwin.
Awards & Achievements
In
1836, Louis was awarded the ‘Wollaston Medal’ for his outstanding work
on fossil ichthyology by the ‘Geological Society of London’.
In 1838, he was selected as the foreign member of ‘Royal Society of London’.
In the year 1846, Agassiz was given the position of the Foreign Honorary member of ‘American Academy of Arts and Sciences’.
Personal Life & Legacy
Agassiz
was married twice. After the death of his first wife in 1850, he was
married to Elizabeth Cabot Cary. She was a distinguished writer and a
propagator of women’s rights from Boston.
He
had three children from his first marriage. Once he settled down in
United States, his two daughters and son Alexander joined him there.
Trivia
Louis’s
classification of the animal kingdom and his parallelisms influenced
the thoughts of Charles Darwin, the father of evolution. However, Darwin
was not a strict believer of parallelism, like Louis. Agassiz on the
other hand was not a remote believer of evolution and saw the hands of
One Creator everywhere in nature.