I’ve recently fallen down somewhat of a history rabbit hole and decided to share a few historical figures of the natural world that I find quite interesting. As someone who focuses on entomology, I believe the scope of this initial post will be somewhat narrow. However, if any naturalists of the past within your chosen niche have sparked your interest, please share them in the comments so we can all discuss them as well! :)
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Margaret S. Collins: Seemingly born destined for greatness, Margaret S. Collins took an interest in entomology from a very young age. She was recognized as a child prodigy at 6 years old, skipped 2 grades, and graduated high school at 14, starting college shortly after. After graduating and officially becoming the third black female entomologist in US history, she primarily did field work and specialized in termites. In 1989 she discovered the Damp Wood Termite, or Neotermes luykxi, which is just one of her many achievements. She would ultimately pass away at the age of 73 while on an expedition, still dedicated and passionate about her work until her final day.
Maria Sibylla Merian: A pioneer in studying insect life cycles, she documented those of 186 species. Merian also illustrated sexual dimorphism in several species and documented interactions between species, making her a pioneer in not only entomology but ecology as a whole. A species of large lizard, Salvator merianae, was named in her honor.
Sophie Lutterlough: Despite discrimination against black people being a major barrier in her career at the Smithsonian in the 1960s, it was one that she would ultimately overcome as she was promoted from an elevator operator to an insect preparator. During her 40-year tenure at the museum, she restored and identified hundreds of thousands of tick specimens and identified 40 new species. She is the namesake of a species of large mite, Pygmephorus lutterloughae.
It should be added that Maria Sibylle Merian lived in the 17th century (1647-1717) (that was before Linné!) and went at the age of 52 to Suriname to study and collect insects. Later she published a book about the life history of Suriname insects.
And then there was Mary Kingsley (Africa) and Amalie Dittrich (Australia), but it’s now 3 a.m., so you have to read wikipedia yourself. @ItsMeLucy I bought a copy of Cheesman’s book: Things worth while on abebooks - shipping cost more than the book, but I’m happy!
Alexander Von Humboldt, the naturalist, geologist and explorer about whom I knew absolutely nothing until I read The Invention of Nature by Andrea Wulf (Knopf, 2015.) For a quicker read there is the graphic version The Adventures of Alexander Von Humboldt, a collaboration between Wulf and the graphic artist Lillian Melcher (Pantheon, 2019.)
Actually, when I come across an organism (usually an insect) that is named after a person, I often look up the name. Or I dive into the name of the one who described it. The last one was Johann Centurius Hoffmannsegg, of whom I know an isopod (Porcellio hoffmannseggii) and a beetle (Cossyphus hoffmannseggi) named after him.
PS. A linguistic question: I don’t know Latin, so I am always puzzled by the double i - often in names. Can anybody explain the grammar, please?
Irene Mounce, afterwhich the shelf fungus Fomiopsis mounceae has been named. A remarkable woman from British Columbia in Canada, born in 1894. She made a lot of headway in wood-eating fungi, and breaking down the phylogenetic mess that was Fomitopsis pinicola at the time.
There’s also Charles Horton Peck, another great mycology-focus naturalist. He helped describe and catalogue a lot of North American fungi. From what I could gleam from Wiki: “After working 48 years, Peck left a legacy of 2,700 new species identified of fungi, over 4,000 pages of publications and about 36,000 specimens.” That’s quite a lot for one man. Also, Hydnellum peckii is named after him and I love that species :>
Modern day? Alan Rockefeller. He’s the world leading mycologists, along with Paul Stamets. His incredible photography and knowledge of fungi are really inspiring.
@sedgequeen, it sounds that you knew her personally and please let me offer you condolences for your loss. After reading the zoom description I looked for further information about her (much of the zoom description being a little above my head), found this, and she was beyond remarkable.
Thanks for the link, @ItsMeLucy Yes, I knew Veva though not well. She was always happy to take people out to see the plants in these interesting areas. She didn’t pushily tell us stuff (as I would have) but just showed us the plants and answered our many questions.
Beatrix Potter. Best known for her animal books for young children. She was a respected mycologist - see Wayside and Woodland Fungi. But her main contribution to naturalists was that she spent her wealth on buying up Cumbrian hill farms and maintaining them as farms at a time when tourism was becoming big business and farms were being bought for holiday villages. There is a Renee Zellweger biopic about Beatrix Potter.