Cope (1840-1897) of Philadelphia, whose studies in fossil vertebrates
were of epoch-making significance. He studied at the University of
Pennsylvania. From 1864 till 1867 he was professor of natural sciences
in Haverford College. For twenty-two years thereafter he was engaged in
exploration, research, and editorial work. In 1889 he became professor
of geology and palæontology in the University of Pennsylvania. Before
he was thirty he had laid his foundations in five chief lines of
research, ichthyology, amphibians, reptiles, mammals, and evolutionary
philosophy. On all of these subjects he wrote much and wisely. He was
the author of over four hundred volumes, papers, and memoirs, to say
nothing of hundreds of editorial articles in _The American Naturalist_,
which he edited from 1878 until his death. On the subject of evolution
alone his most important works are “The Origin of Genera” (1868), “The
Origin of the Fittest” (1886), and “The Primary Factors of Organic
Evolution” (1896). His activity in research may be judged from the fact
that he himself named and described 1115 out of some 3200 known species
of North American fossil vertebrates. Naturally, in attempting so much,
he fell short of perfection in some things.
His life-work, [says Professor Osborn,[24]] bears the marks of
great genius, of solid and accurate observation, and at times of
inaccuracy due to bad logic or haste and over-pressure of work. The
greater number of his Natural Orders and Natural Laws will remain
as permanent landmarks in our science. As a comparative anatomist
he ranks, both in the range and effectiveness of his knowledge
and his ideas, with Cuvier and Owen.... As a natural philosopher,
while far less logical than Huxley, he was more creative and
constructive, his metaphysics ending in theism rather than
agnosticism.
_Elliott Coues._--Distinguished as an ornithologist, Elliott Coues
(1842-1899) became favourably known also for researches in biology and
comparative anatomy. After taking degrees at the Columbian University
in 1861-1863, he entered the Union Army as assistant surgeon, studying
flora and fauna wherever he went. In 1873-1876 he was surgeon and
naturalist to the United States Northern Boundary Commission and
in 1876-1880 was connected with the United States Geological and
Geographical Survey of the Territories. He helped found the American
Ornithologists’ Union and edited its organ, The Auk. His “Key to
North American Birds” (1872, rewritten 1884 and 1901) is of great
significance. He wrote also on “Birds of the Northwest” (1874), “Birds
of the Colorado Valley” (1878), and with Winfrid A. Stearns, “New
England Bird Life” (1881).
_David Starr Jordan._--David Starr Jordan (born in 1851) has in
recent years been regarded chiefly as an educator; he became known
through his studies on fishes. Entering Cornell University in 1868,
he was appointed instructor in botany in 1870 and graduated M.S. in
1872. After teaching and studying science for some years, he was
made (1879) professor of zoölogy at Indiana University, of which
he became president in 1885. Since 1891 he has been president of
Stanford University. Some of his books are “A Manual of the Vertebrate
Animals of the Northern United States” (1876), “Science Sketches”
(1887), “Fishes of North and Middle America” (1896-1899), “Footnotes
to Evolution” (1898), and “The Food and Game Fishes of North America”
(1902). He is a leader both in his chosen scientific field and in
educational thought.
_Asa Gray._--The best-known botanist of his epoch was Asa Gray
(1810-1888) a native of Paris, Oneida County, New York. He graduated
in medicine at Fairfield College in 1831, but soon gave up medicine
for botany and in 1842 was elected to the Fisher professorship of
natural history in Harvard University. Any adequate narrative of
Gray’s tremendous activity as a writer and teacher is out of the
question here; we can only say that his widely known and long standard
text-books on botany (beginning with the “Elements of Botany,” 1836,
which grew into the “Structural and Systematic Botany” of 1879, and
including his “How Plants Grow,” 1858, and “How Plants Behave,” 1872)
represent but a small part of his literary activity. With Dr. Torrey
he began (1838) the “Flora of North America”; he wrote also valuable
botanical memoirs and many valuable articles for _The North American
Review_ and _The American Journal of Science_.
_Edward Hitchcock._--Edward Hitchcock (1793-1864), a Congregational
clergyman, and for thirty-nine years a professor of science in Amherst
College, was especially devoted to geological study. A large number of
his books and papers relate to geological subjects, which he helped
to make popular; among these books are “Economical Geology” (1832),
“Geology of Massachusetts” (1841), “The Religion of Geology and Its
Connected Sciences” (1851), and “Ichnology of New England” (1858). He
was the first president of the Association of American Geologists, and
was president of Amherst College from 1845 till 1854.
_Louis Agassiz._--The celebrated naturalist Jean Louis Rodolphe
Agassiz (1807-1873) was of Swiss birth and did not come to America
to live until he was forty-one years of age, and had already become
famous for those studies of glacial phenomena set forth in “Études sur
les glaciers” (1840) and “Système glaciaire” (with Guyot and Desor,
1847). For twenty-five years (1848-1873) he was professor of natural
history at Harvard, and in that time, besides training some of the most
eminent of living American scientists, he did much to arouse popular
interest in science and scientific progress. Of the “Contributions to
the Natural History of the United States” which he planned to publish
in ten volumes, he lived to issue only four (1857-1862). For Agassiz
Nature was “the expression of the thought of the Creator.” In opposing
the Darwinians as to the origin of species, Agassiz unfortunately
took the wrong side of the question of how the Creator expressed His
thought; but he remains nevertheless distinguished both as a scientist
and as an educator; a singularly great and gentle nature, strong and
true.
_Arnold Henry Guyot._--Less distinguished than his compatriot Agassiz,
but of enduring fame, was the geographer Arnold Guyot (1807-1884). Born
near Neuchâtel, Switzerland, he studied there and in Germany, receiving
the degree of Ph.D. from Berlin in 1835. Like Agassiz he became known
for his glacial discoveries; and like Agassiz he came to America in
the troubled year 1848. From 1854 until his death he was professor of
geology and physical geography at Princeton. His text-books and maps
revolutionised the teaching and study of geography. He wrote also many
scientific papers and memoirs, among which may be noted especially
those describing his studies in the Appalachian Mountains. American
science owes much to his unselfish devotion.
_James Dwight Dana._--James D. Dana (1813-1895), born in Utica, New
York, was attracted by the fame of the elder Silliman to Yale College,
where he graduated in 1833. To the Sillimans he became allied by his
marriage with Henrietta F. Silliman in 1844; and like them he had a
long and notable career closely connected with Yale College, where
he became (1835) Silliman professor of natural history and geology.
He wrote many reports on geological, zoölogical, and mineralogical
subjects, besides “A Manual of Mineralogy” (1851), “A Manual of
Geology” (1862), “On Coral Reefs and Islands” (1853), “Science and the
Bible” (_Bibliotheca Sacra_, 1856-1857), and “Corals and Coral Islands”
(1872).
_Alexander Winchell._--Another noted geologist was Alexander Winchell
(1824-1891). Graduating from Wesleyan University in 1847, he became
a teacher of science in various schools, and in 1853 professor of
physics and civil engineering in the University of Michigan; being
soon transferred to the chair of geology, zoölogy, and botany. He
afterward taught at Syracuse and Vanderbilt Universities. From the
latter institution in 1878 he was dismissed because his views on
evolution were “contrary to the plan of redemption.” The next year he
was recalled to Michigan. Besides being a leading spirit in forming
the Geological Society of America, and in establishing _The American
Geologist_, he was a voluminous writer, especially of scientific works
for popular use, and endeavoured in these works to show the essential
harmony between science and Christian dogma. Thus he did the work of a
peacemaker in what has long been a heated conflict.
_Nathaniel Bowditch_ (1773-1838) was a pioneer in the study of
astronomy and mathematics in America. At first a cooper and then a
ship-chandler, he was studious, and learned Latin in order to read
Newton’s “Principia.” As supercargo on a merchant vessel during several
voyages, he became expert in the theory of navigation and published in
1802 “The New American Practical Navigator,” which in a revised form is
published by the United States Hydrographic Office and is the standard
compendium for navigators. In 1829 he translated Laplace’s “Méchanique
céleste,” adding valuable notes.
_Benjamin Peirce._--In the annals of mathematics and astronomy the name
of Benjamin Peirce (1809-1880) has a place of distinction. Born at
Salem, Massachusetts, he became a pupil of Bowditch, and graduated at
Harvard in 1829, in the class with Holmes. He became a tutor at Harvard
in 1831, professor of mathematics and physics in 1833, and nine years
later Perkins professor of mathematics and astronomy, holding this
chair till his death. From 1867 till 1874, succeeding Dallas Bache, he
was superintendent of the Coast Survey. He wrote an important series
of mathematical text-books; “System of Analytical Mechanics” (1857);
“Linear Associative Algebra” (communications to the National Academy
of Sciences, collected in 1870); and Lowell Institute lectures on
“Ideality in the Physical Sciences” (1881). He obtained eminence, it
has been said, equally in mathematics, physics, astronomy, mechanics,
and navigation.
_The Sillimans._--In the annals of American science no other name is so
long and favourably known as that of the Sillimans. Benjamin Silliman
(1779-1864) was for fifty years, beginning in 1802, professor of
chemistry in Yale College and founded (1818) _The American Journal of
Science and Arts_, which he edited for twenty-eight years. His son,
Benjamin, Jr. (1816-1885), taught and studied chemistry, mineralogy,
and geology in Yale, and was associate editor (1838-1846) of his
father’s _Journal_. For the rest of his life he was a professor of
chemistry, first in what is now the Sheffield Scientific School of
Yale, then at Louisville University, and later in the Academic and
Medical Departments at Yale. In 1858 he published “First Principles
of Natural Philosophy or Physics”; and he was the author of many
scientific memoirs, addresses, and reports. He was one of the pioneers
in science-teaching in America, and his influence on scientific
education was deep and abiding.
_Joseph Henry._--Joseph Henry (1797-1878) was one of the most
illustrious physicists of his day. Born and educated at Albany,
New York, he began (1827) researches which resulted in important
discoveries in the field of electro-magnetism, one of which made the
telegraph possible. From 1832 till 1846 he was professor of natural
philosophy in the College of New Jersey (Princeton), and from 1846
till his death was secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, which he
had helped to organise. He published “Contributions to Electricity
and Magnetism” (1839) and many papers, especially in the Smithsonian
reports. A brilliant and profound investigator, he did signally
important service in organising great scientific enterprises. “To
Henry,” says Dr. Woodward, “more than to any other man, must be
attributed the rise and the growth in America of the present public
appreciation of the scientific work carried on by governmental aid.”
_Alexander Dallas Bache._--Alexander Dallas Bache (1806-1867), a
great-grandson of Benjamin Franklin, after graduating in 1825 at West
Point, at the head of his class, at twenty-two resigned a lieutenant’s
commission to become professor of natural philosophy and chemistry at
the University of Pennsylvania. Having made a name for his researches
on steam, magnetism, etc., he was called in 1843 to be superintendent
of the United States Coast Survey, and performed his duties with marked
efficiency. Gifted with quick apprehension and broad intelligence, he
possessed great powers of leadership. He published nearly two hundred
scientific papers, memoirs, and reports. “To him,” declared his
eulogist Benjamin Gould, “the scientific progress of the nation was
indebted more than to any other man who had trod her soil.”
_Matthew Fontaine Maury._--Matthew F. Maury (1806-1873) is well known
to students of meteorological science and also to the educational
world. He was a Virginian of Huguenot extraction, who went to sea at
nineteen and became not only a good sailor but also an authority on
navigation. His “Treatise on Navigation” (1835) was favourably received
abroad and was used as a text-book in the United States Navy. As “Harry
Bluff” he published in _The Southern Literary Messenger_, about 1840,
under the title of “Scraps from the Lucky-Bag,” a series of papers
on nautical matters, which brought him fame and resulted in placing
him in charge of the Depot of Charts and Instruments at Washington,
an office which later became the Naval Observatory and Hydrographical
Department. One of his first tasks was to compile some charts of winds
and currents. These charts proved immensely valuable by shortening
voyages and lowering the expense of commerce. His “Physical Geography
of the Sea and its Meteorology” (1855) at once took the highest rank
in its field, and the geographical text-books which he wrote in his
later years have done great service to education and in a revised form
still satisfy the needs of many schools. He was the author also of many
pamphlets and official papers.
_Josiah Parsons Cooke._--Josiah Parsons Cooke (1827-1894), a pioneer
in chemical education, was born in Boston and graduated at Harvard
in 1844. In 1851 he became professor of chemistry and mineralogy at
Harvard. He did much to further the study of chemistry in colleges and
was one of the first to urge the laboratory method of instruction.
He published, among other things, “Chemical Problems and Reactions”
(1853), “Religion and Chemistry” (1864), “The New Chemistry” (1871),
and “The Credentials of Science the Warrant of Faith” (1888).
_John William Draper._--John W. Draper (1811-1882) is known in the
annals of science as a chemist and physiologist; he won eminence
also as a historian. Born at St. Helens, near Liverpool, the son of
a Wesleyan Methodist minister, he studied chemistry under Turner in
London, and coming to America in 1833, graduated in medicine from the
University of Pennsylvania in 1836. He now began investigating the
chemical action of light, and published in 1844 a “Treatise on the
Forces which Produce the Organisation of Plants.” His memoir “On the
Production of Light by Heat” (1847), a valuable contribution to the
subject of spectrum analysis, appeared thirteen years before Kirchoff’s
celebrated memoir, which used to be thought of as marking the beginning
of spectrum analysis. He was also the first to succeed (1839) in taking
portraits of the human face by photography. In 1839 he became professor
of chemistry, and in 1850 of physiology also, in the University of
New York. His “Treatise on Human Physiology, Statical and Dynamical”
(1856) at once took its place as a standard text-book. He wrote also a
“Text-Book on Chemistry” (1846); a “Text-Book on Natural Philosophy”
(1847); “History of the Conflict between Religion and Science” (1874),
an able and comprehensive treatment of a vast subject; and “Scientific
Memoirs” (1878), a collection of papers on radiant energy. Two of his
sons, Henry and John Christopher, also became well known physiologists
and chemists.
_Charles Augustus Young._--Of the more recent astronomers of America,
Charles A. Young (1834-1908) was one of the foremost. Born in Hanover,
New Hampshire, the son of Professor Ira Young of Dartmouth College, he
graduated from Dartmouth in 1853. From 1856 till 1866 he was professor
of mathematics, astronomy, and natural philosophy in Western Reserve
University. In the latter year he returned to Dartmouth as professor
of natural philosophy and astronomy, remaining there till 1877, when
he became professor of astronomy at Princeton. He was prominently
connected with several important astronomical expeditions and produced
some notable inventions, among them an automatic spectroscope which has
been widely used by astronomers. He made some significant observations
on the sun, including a verification by experiment of Doppler’s
principle as applied to light, by which he was able to measure the
velocity of the sun’s rotation. He also discovered the thin solar shell
of gaseous matter called “the reversing layer.” He wrote “The Sun” in
“The International Scientific Series” (1882), “A General Astronomy”
(1889), “Elements of Astronomy” (1890), and “A Manual of Astronomy”
(1902).
_Robert Henry Thurston._--Distinguished as an educator, an inventor,
and a writer on engineering subjects was Robert H. Thurston
(1839-1903). He was born in Providence, Rhode Island, and graduated
from Brown University in 1859. During the Civil War he served as an
engineer in the Federal Navy; in 1865 he was appointed assistant
professor of natural and experimental philosophy at the United States
Naval Academy. In 1871 he became professor of engineering at the
Stevens Institute of Technology, remaining here until 1885, when
he was made director of Sibley College in Cornell University. His
writings, always clear, exact, and authoritative, have circulated
widely among engineers. They include “A History of the Growth of the
Steam Engine” (1878, revised in 1901, and translated into French and
German), “Materials of Engineering” (three volumes, 1882-1886), “Manual
of the Steam Engine” (1890-1891), “Manual of Steam Boilers” (1890),
with other valuable works, and about 250 scientific papers. Thurston
served on several important government engineering commissions. Of him
it has justly been said that “he made engineers better scientists,
promoted engineering education, helped to put engineering upon a higher
professional plane, and constantly was on the watch to dispel the fogs
of prejudice by help of the truths of science.”
_The Youmans Brothers._--The life of Edward Livingston Youmans
(1821-1887) was spent chiefly in popularising science. Born in Albany
County, New York, he inherited a strong bent toward scientific study.
For many years he wrestled with threatening blindness, and was never
well. His “Class-Book of Chemistry” (1851) was remarkably successful.
“There was,” Mr. Fiske says of it, “a firm grasp of the philosophical
principles underlying chemical phenomena, and the meaning and functions
of the science were set forth in such a way as to charm the student
and make him wish for more.” He spent many years in delivering lyceum
lectures, for which he was well fitted. His “Handbook of Household
Science” (1857) was a carefully written treatise on the applications
of science to the problems of food, light, heat, and sanitation. Its
popularity led him to plan a comprehensive “Household Cyclopædia”
which he did not live to finish. Besides editing “The Correlation and
Conservation of Forces” (1864), a series of expositions by Grove,
Helmholtz, Mayer, Faraday, Liebig, and Carpenter, and “The Culture
Demanded by Modern Life” (1867), a collection of addresses and
arguments in favour of scientific education, Youmans published several
addresses and papers, and did much to give the views of Darwin and
Spencer a favourable reception in America. He was the originator and
general editor of “The International Scientific Series,” of which
fifty-seven volumes appeared in his lifetime. It was a difficult but
eminently useful task to secure popular scientific books by masters;
and the series of seventy-nine volumes has done much for education.
Youmans was also the founder of _The Popular Science Monthly_ (begun in
1872) and edited the first twenty-eight volumes.
While it was his main intent [to quote Mr. Fiske again] to give in
popular form an account of the progress of the several departments
of science, he never lost sight of the aim to show wherein the
scientific method was applicable to the larger questions of
life--of education, social relations, morals, government, and
religion.
William Jay Youmans (1838-1901) first studied chemistry at Columbia and
Yale and privately with his brother Edward, then took a medical course
at New York University. After practising medicine for some three years,
he became connected with _The Popular Science Monthly_, which he edited
from 1887 till 1900. He wrote “Pioneers of Science in America” (1895).
_Henry Carrington Bolton._--Henry Carrington Bolton (1843-1903) did
much for the bibliography of chemistry; his “Select Bibliography of
Chemistry, 1492-1892” (1893-1905) comprises over 12,000 titles in
twenty-four languages. He also wrote many papers on the history of
chemistry. His “Counting-out Rhymes of Children” (1888) gave him
prominence as a folklorist, and he published also some important papers
on various other subjects in folklore.
VII. THE PERIODICALS.
=Their Importance.=--No apology need be offered for including in
this volume a section on the history of American periodicals. As
Professor Smyth has well said, in speaking of the early magazines
of Philadelphia, such a division “helps to exhibit the process of
American literature as an evolution.” Much of our best literature made
its first appearance in periodicals; and the remuneration received by
authors from this source has great significance in the economics of
literature. Likewise much of our best and most searching criticism,
whether reprinted or not, appeared originally in newspapers and
magazines, which have thus had a prominent part in the making of
American literature. In 1810 there were only about thirty periodicals
altogether; in 1900 there were 239 classed as general and literary,
some of them having a considerable circulation on the other side of
the Atlantic. In the brief space allotted to this section it will be
impossible to do more than to mention a few of the most important
literary periodicals; the full extent of the journalistic activity of
the United States may be inferred from the fact that in 1900 over eight
billion copies of periodicals were circulated, having a market value of
nearly $225,000,000.