Editing Alexander Agassiz

{{Short description|American scientist and engineer (1835–1910)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2021}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name              = Alexander Agassiz
| image             = Portrait of Alexander Emanuel Agassiz.jpg
| birth_name        = Alexander Emmanuel Rodolphe Agassiz
| birth_date        = {{birth date|1835|12|17|mf=yes}}
| birth_place       = [[Neuchâtel]], Switzerland
| death_date        = {{death date and age|1910|03|27|1835|12|17|mf=yes}}
| death_place       = North Atlantic Ocean (aboard the [[RMS Adriatic|RMS ''Adriatic'']])
| nationality       = Swiss, American
| alma_mater        = [[Harvard University]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|AB]], [[Bachelor of Science|BS]])
| known_for         = 
| awards            = [[American Philosophical Society]] (1862)<br />[[Pour le Mérite]] (German order)
| father            = [[Louis Agassiz]]
| children          = 3, including [[Rodolphe Louis Agassiz]]
| signature         = Appletons' Agassiz Alexander signature.jpg
| author_abbrev_zoo = A. Agassiz, A. Ag.
}}

'''Alexander Emmanuel Rodolphe Agassiz''' (December 17, 1835{{snd}}March 27, 1910), son of [[Louis Agassiz]] and stepson of [[Elizabeth Cabot Agassiz]], was an American scientist and engineer.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Guide to Nature |year=1910 |quote=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. | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7c4eAQAAIAAJ&q=%22Rudolph+Agassiz%22+polo&pg=PA35 }}</ref>

==Biography==
Agassiz was born in [[Neuchâtel]], Switzerland, and immigrated to the United States with his parents, [[Louis Agassiz|Louis]] and Cecile (Braun) Agassiz, in 1846.<ref name="BDA1906" /> He graduated from [[Harvard University]] in 1855, subsequently studying [[engineering]] and [[chemistry]], and taking the degree of [[Bachelor of Science]] at the [[Lawrence Scientific School]] of the same institution in 1857; in 1859 became an assistant in the [[United States Coast and Geodetic Survey|United States Coast Survey]].<ref name="LeonardMarquis1908"/> 
Thenceforward he became a specialist in marine [[ichthyology]].<ref name="EB1911">{{EB1911|inline=1|wstitle=Agassiz, Alexander Emanuel|volume=1|pages=366–367}}</ref> Agassiz was elected a Fellow of the [[American Academy of Arts and Sciences]] in 1862.<ref name=AAAS>{{cite web|title=Book of Members, 1780–2010: Chapter A|url=http://www.amacad.org/publications/BookofMembers/ChapterA.pdf|publisher=American Academy of Arts and Sciences|access-date=April 6, 2011| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110510021801/http://www.amacad.org/publications/BookofMembers/ChapterA.pdf| archive-date= May 10, 2011 | url-status= live}}</ref> Up until the summer of 1866, Agassiz worked as assistant curator in the museum of natural history that his father founded at Harvard.<ref name="BDA1906" />
[[File:Alexander Agassiz crop - Harvard Daguerreotypes - sAg 168.70.1.jpg|thumb|left|Agassiz {{circa|1860}}]] 
E. J. Hulbert, a friend of Agassiz's brother-in-law, [[Quincy Adams Shaw]], had discovered a rich copper lode known as the [[Calumet and Hecla Mining Company|Calumet conglomerate]] on the [[Keweenaw Peninsula]] in [[Michigan]]. Hulbert persuaded them, along with a group of friends, to purchase a controlling interest in the mines, which later became known as the [[Calumet and Hecla Mining Company]] based in [[Calumet, Michigan]]. That summer, he took a trip to see the mines for himself and he afterwards became treasurer of the enterprise.

Over the winter of 1866 and early 1867, mining operations began to falter, due to the difficulty of extracting copper from the conglomerate. Hulbert had sold his interests in the mines and had moved on to other ventures. But Agassiz refused to give up hope for the mines. He returned to the mines in March 1867, with his wife and young son. At that time, Calumet was a remote settlement, virtually inaccessible during the winter and very far removed from civilization even during the summer. With insufficient supplies at the mines, Agassiz struggled to maintain order, while back in Boston, Shaw was saddled with debt and the collapse of their interests. Shaw obtained financial assistance from John Simpkins, the selling agent for the enterprise to continue operations.

Agassiz continued to live at Calumet, making gradual progress in stabilizing the mining operations, such that he was able to leave the mines under the control of a general manager and return to Boston in 1868 before winter closed navigation. The mines continued to prosper and in May 1871, several mines were consolidated to form the [[Calumet and Hecla Mining Company]] with Shaw as its first president. In August 1871, Shaw "retired" to the board of directors and Agassiz became president, a position he held until his death. Until the turn of the century, this company was by far the largest copper producer in the United States, many years producing over half of the total.

Agassiz was a major factor in the mine's continued success and visited the mines twice a year. He innovated by installing a giant engine, known as the Superior, which was able to lift 24 tons of rock from a depth of {{convert|1,200|m|ft|abbr=off}}. He also built a railroad and dredged a channel to navigable waters. However, after a time the mines did not require his full-time, year-round, attention and he returned to his interests in natural history at Harvard. Out of his copper fortune, he gave some US$500,000 to Harvard for the museum of comparative [[zoology]] and other purposes.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}
[[File:Castle Hill Inn & Resort.jpg|thumb|right|upright=.8|Castle Hill Inn, Agassiz's Newport cottage]]
Shortly after the death of his father in 1873, Agassiz acquired a small peninsula in [[Newport, Rhode Island]], which features views of Narragansett Bay. Here he built a substantial house and a laboratory for use as his summer residence. The house was completed in 1875 and today is known as the Inn at Castle Hill.

He was a member of the scientific-expedition to South America in 1875, where he inspected the copper mines of [[Peru]] and [[Chile]], and made extended surveys of [[Lake Titicaca]], besides collecting invaluable Peruvian antiquities,<ref name="BDA1906" /> which he gave to the [[Museum of Comparative Zoology]] (MCZ), of which he was first curator from 1874 to 1885 and then director until his death in 1910, his personal secretary [[Elizabeth Hodges Clark]] running the day-to-day management of the MCZ when his work took him abroad.<ref>About MCZ (History) – http://www.mcz.harvard.edu/about/history.html {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180518055636/http://www.mcz.harvard.edu/about/history.html |date=May 18, 2018 }}</ref><ref>Museum of Comparative Zoology Harvard University Annual Report 2017-2018 - https://mcz.harvard.edu/files/mcz/files/mcz_ar_2017-2018_final_web.pdf</ref><ref>Fossil Histories: Behind the Scenes in Harvard's Paleontology Collections - https://library.harvard.edu/sites/default/files/styles/carousel_1200_x_900/public/IMG_5923sm.jpg?itok=ruNtCTcz</ref> He assisted [[Charles Wyville Thomson]] in the examination and classification of the collections of the 1872 [[Challenger expedition|''Challenger'' Expedition]], and wrote the ''Review of the Echini'' (2 vols., 1872–1874) in the reports. Between 1877 and 1880, he took part in the three [[Marine biology dredge|dredging]] expeditions of the steamer ''Blake'' of the Coast Survey (renamed the [[United States Coast and Geodetic Survey]] in 1878), and presented a full account of them in two volumes (1888).<ref name="EB1911"/> Also in 1875, he was elected as a member of the [[American Philosophical Society]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=APS Member History|url=https://search.amphilsoc.org/memhist/search?creator=&title=&subject=&subdiv=&mem=&year=1875&year-max=&dead=&keyword=&smode=advanced|access-date=2021-05-05|website=search.amphilsoc.org}}</ref>

In 1896, Agassiz visited [[Fiji]] and [[Queensland]] and inspected the [[Great 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 with [[Elizabeth 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''.<ref name="EB1911"/>

He received the German Order [[Pour le Mérite]] for Science and Arts in August 1902.<ref>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=Court Circular|date=August 19, 1902 |page=8 |issue=36850}}</ref>

Agassiz served as a president of the [[United States National Academy of Sciences|National Academy of Sciences]], which since 1913 has awarded the [[Alexander Agassiz Medal]] in his memory. He died in 1910 on board the [[RMS Adriatic (1907)|RMS ''Adriatic'']] en route to New York from [[Southampton]].<ref>{{cite news | author=Staff writers | title=Prof. Agassiz Dies on Liner at Sea | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1910/03/30/archives/prof-agassiz-dies-on-liner-at-sea-wireless-from-his-son-on-the.html| newspaper=The New York Times | date=March 30, 1910}}</ref>

He and his wife Anna Russell (1840–1873) were the parents of three sons – George Russell Agassiz (1861–1951), Maximilian Agassiz (1866–1943) and [[Rodolphe Louis Agassiz]] (1871–1933).

==Legacy==
Alexander Agassiz is commemorated in the scientific name of a species of lizard, ''[[Anolis agassizi]]'', and a fish, ''[[Leptochilichthys agassizii]]''.<ref>Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. {{ISBN|978-1-4214-0135-5}}. ("Agassiz, A.E.", p. 2).</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/part/27494|title=Reports on an exploration off the west coasts of Mexico, Central and South America, and off the Galapagos Islands, in charge of Alexander Agassiz, by the U.S. Fish Commission Steamer Albatross, during 1891, Lieut. Commander Z.L. Tanner, U.S.N., commanding. 26. The fishes|first=S.|last=Garman|date=September 6, 1899|journal=Memoirs of the Museum of Comparative Zoölogy, at Harvard College, Cambridge, Mass.|volume=24|pages=1–431|doi=10.5962/bhl.part.27494|doi-access=free}}</ref>

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 the 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 today administered and maintained by the [[Keweenaw National Historical Park]], whose headquarters overlook the statue of Agassiz.<ref>{{cite web |title=Alexander Agassiz Statue |url=https://www.nps.gov/places/alexander-agassiz-statue.htm |website=The Alexander Agassiz Statue |publisher=Keweenaw National Historical Park |access-date=February 25, 2021}}</ref>  A major building of the [[Hopkins Marine Station]] is named after him.

==Publications==
*Agassiz, Alexander (1863). [https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/30465#page/25/mode/1up "List of the echinoderms sent to different institutions in exchange for other specimens, with annotations".] ''Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology'' '''1''' (2): 17–28.
*Agassiz, Elizabeth C., and Alexander Agassiz (1865). [https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/16902#page/7/mode/1up ''Seaside Studies in Natural History.''] Boston: Ticknor and Fields. 
*Agassiz, Alexander (1872–1874). [https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/4327273#page/7/mode/1up "Illustrated Catalogue of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, at Harvard College. No. VII. Revision of the Echini. Parts 1–4".] ''Memoirs of the Museum of Comparative Zoology'' '''3''': 1–762. [https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/24338#page/6/mode/1up Plates]
*Agassiz, Alexander (1877). [https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/4304836#page/9/mode/1up "North American starfishes".] ''Memoirs of the Museum of Comparative Zoology'' '''5''' (1): 1–136.
*Agassiz, Alexander (1881). [https://web.archive.org/web/20161118100508/http://www.19thcenturyscience.org/HMSC/HMSC-Reports/Zool-09/htm/doc.html "Report on the Echinoidea dredged by H.M.S. Challenger during the years 1873–1876".] ''Report of the Scientific Results of the Voyage of H.M.S. Challenger During the Years 1873–76. Zoology.'' '''9''': 1–321.
*Agassiz, Alexander (1903). [https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/95214#page/7/mode/1up "Three cruises of the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey steamer 'Blake' in the Gulf of Mexico, in the Caribbean Sea, and along the Atlantic coast of the United States, from 1877 to 1880. Vol I".] ''Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology'' '''14''': 1–314.
*Agassiz, Alexander (1903). [https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/28876145#page/1/mode/1up "Three cruises of the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey steamer 'Blake' in the Gulf of Mexico, in the Caribbean Sea, and along the Atlantic coast of the United States, from 1877 to 1880. Vol II".] ''Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology'' '''15''': 1–220.
*Agassiz, Alexander (1903). [https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/32751#page/13/mode/1up "The coral reefs of the tropical Pacific".] ''Memoirs of the Museum of Comparative Zoology'' '''28''': 1–410. [https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/32464#page/3/mode/1up Plates I.] [https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/25357#page/3/mode/1up Plates II.] [https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/91611#page/1/mode/1up Plates III.]
*Agassiz, Alexander (1903). [https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/96343#page/11/mode/1up "The coral reefs of the Maldives".] ''Memoirs of the Museum of Comparative Zoology'' '''29''': 1–168.  
*Agassiz, Alexander (1904). [https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/25650#page/11/mode/1up "The Panamic deep sea Echini".] ''Memoirs of the Museum of Comparative Zoology'' '''31''': 1–243. [https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/91621#page/11/mode/1up Plates.]

==See also==
*[[Agassiz family]]

==References==
{{Reflist |refs=
<ref name="LeonardMarquis1908">{{Citation|mode=cs1 |editor1-first=John William |editor1-last=Leonard |editor2-first=Albert Nelson |editor2-last=Marquis |title=Who's who in America |publisher=Marquis Who's Who, Incorporated |volume=5 |page=14}}</ref>
<ref name="BDA1906">{{BDA1906 |inline=y |wstitle=Agassiz, Alexander Emmanuel Rudolph |volume=1 |pages=59–60}}</ref>
}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|position=right|Alexander Emanuel Agassiz}}
{{Wikisource author|Alexander Agassiz}}
{{Wikispecies|Alexander Emanuel Agassiz}}
* Agassiz, George (1913). [https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/113452#page/11/mode/1up Letters and Recollections of Alexander Agassiz with a sketch of his life and work]. Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin Co.
* {{cite encyclopedia | last=Dupree | first=A. Hunter | title =Alexander Agassiz | encyclopedia=[[Dictionary of Scientific Biography]] | volume=1 | pages=71–72 | publisher=Charles Scribner's Sons | location=New York | year=1970 | isbn=978-0-684-10114-9}}
* Murray, John (1911). "[https://books.google.com/books?id=NLsWAAAAYAAJ Alexander Agassiz: His Life and Scientific Work]". [https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/bibliography/2803#/summary Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology] 54 (3). pp 139–158.
* {{BHL author}}
* {{Internet Archive author|sname=Alexander Emanuel Agassiz}}
* {{Gutenberg author | id=37709| name=Alexander Emanuel Agassiz}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20160304050608/http://libraries.admin.ch/cgi-bin/gw/chameleon?skin=helveticat&inst=consortium&submittheform=Search&usersrch=1&beginsrch=1&elementcount=3&function=INITREQ&search=KEYWORD&rootsearch=KEYWORD&lng=en&pos=1&conf=.%2Fchameleon.conf&t1=alexander%2A%20agassiz%2A&u1=1003&op1=OR&t2=alexander%2A%20agassiz%2A&u2=21&op2=AND&t3=&u3=1035&host=biblio.admin.ch%2B3601%2BDEFAULT&patronhost=biblio.admin.ch%203601%20DEFAULT Publications by and about Alexander Agassiz] in the catalogue Helveticat of the [[Swiss National Library]]
* [http://www.mininghalloffame.org/inductee.asp?i=26&b=inductees%2Easp&t=n&p=A&s= National Mining Hall of Fame: ''Alexander Agassiz''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120716181253/http://www.mininghalloffame.org/inductee.asp?i=26&b=inductees%2Easp&t=n&p=A&s= |date=July 16, 2012 }}
*[http://www.nasonline.org/publications/biographical-memoirs/memoir-pdfs/agassiz-alexander.pdf National Academy of Sciences Biographical Memoir]
* [https://www.nps.gov/kewe/index.htm Keweenaw National Historical Park] Preserving many significant buildings and an archives of the Calumet and Hecla Mining Company and Alexander Agassiz.

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Agassiz, Alexander}}
[[Category:1835 births]]
[[Category:1910 deaths]]
[[Category:19th-century American zoologists]]
[[Category:20th-century American zoologists]]
[[Category:American curators]]
[[Category:American ichthyologists]]
[[Category:Agassiz family]]
[[Category:Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences]]
[[Category:Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences]]
[[Category:Foreign members of the Royal Society]]
[[Category:Honorary Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Pour le Mérite (civil class)]]
[[Category:Victoria Medal recipients]]
[[Category:Calumet and Hecla Mining Company personnel]]
[[Category:United States Coast Survey personnel]]
[[Category:Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences alumni]]
[[Category:Swiss emigrants to the United States]]
[[Category:People from Neuchâtel]]
[[Category:People who died at sea]]
[[Category:Members of the Göttingen Academy of Sciences and Humanities]]
[[Category:Members of the Royal Society of Sciences in Uppsala]]
[[Category:Members of the American Philosophical Society]]