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What is Louis Agassiz famous for?
Louis Agassiz, in full Jean Louis Rodolphe Agassiz, (born May 28, 1807, Motier, Switzerland—died December 14, 1873, Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S.), Swiss-born American naturalist, geologist, and teacher who made revolutionary contributions to the study of natural science with landmark work on glacier activity and …
How did Louis Agassiz discover the ice age?
The idea of Continental Glaciation came from Louis Agassiz in 1840. Agassiz’ hypothesis says that much of the continent of North America was covered by glacial ice that was 2 miles thick and which extended over much of the midwest. Agassiz was Swiss, and so he knew glaciers well.
Who first discovered the ice age?
Louis Agassiz
The origins of ice age theory began hundreds of years ago, when Europeans noted that glaciers in the Alps had shrunk, but its popularization is credited to 19th century Swiss geologist Louis Agassiz.
What did Louis Agassiz say about race?
311-336). Agassiz believed science could be used to justify racism and white supremacy. He was a prominent advocate for polygenism (Lurie, 1954; Gould, 1996, p. 74), the idea that “different human races had biologically distinct origins” (Irmscher, 2013, p.
What was the crux of Agassiz ice age theory?
Louis Agassiz was the first person to hypothesize that the Earth was once subject to an ice age. His hypothesis was as follows: ancient glaciers had not only encroached farther south than the Alps, but had in fact, reached southern Europe, Asia, and North America which led to an “ice age”. …
Who was Jean Louis Agassiz and what did he do?
Jean Louis Rodolphe Agassiz (/ ˈæɡəsi /; French: [aɡasi]) FRS (For) FRSE (May 28, 1807 – December 14, 1873) was a Swiss-born American biologist and geologist who is recognized as a scholar of Earth’s natural history.
What did Louis Agassiz think about the past ice age?
In 1837, Agassiz proposed that the Earth had been subjected to a past ice age. He presented the theory to the Helvetic Society that ancient glaciers flowed outward from the Alps, and even larger glaciers had covered the plains and mountains of Europe, Asia, and North America and smothered the entire Northern Hemisphere in a prolonged ice age.
When did Louis Agassiz start to study fossils?
As early as 1829 Agassiz planned a comprehensive and critical study of those fossils and spent much time gathering material wherever possible. His epoch-making work, Recherches sur les poissons fossiles, appeared in parts from 1833 to 1843.
When did Louis Agassiz publish his history of fish?
The work was completed and published in 1829 as Selecta Genera et Species Piscium. The study of fish forms became henceforth the prominent feature of his research. In 1830 he issued a prospectus of a History of the Fresh Water Fishes of Central Europe, printed in parts from 1839 to 1842.