EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION xv 



ology. Moreover, he made significant contributions to natural history 

 by publishing French and German translations of important English 

 monogTaphs, compiling a comprehensive bibliogxaphy of zoology, and 

 writing a valuable treatise on zoological nomenclature. The format of 

 these accomplishments was no less distinguished than their content; 

 Agassiz established his own publishing and engraving house at Neu- 

 chatel and produced works notable for their design and illustrations. 



These years of substantial intellectual attainment and success 

 earned Agassiz a reputation that spread all over Europe and reached 

 America as well. Men of such renown as Darwin, Sir Charles Lyell, 

 William Buckland, Adam Sedgwick, Leopold von Buch, and £lie 

 de Beaumont ranked him as their peer and delighted in the produc- 

 tions of his pen. Thoroughly familiar with the treasures of the great 

 museums of Europe, honored by membership in the outstanding 

 learned societies of England and the continent, awarded prizes and 

 research grants by the governments and scholarly institutions of 

 Prussia, France, and England, Agassiz enjoyed the rank of a leading 

 naturalist in his generation. His fortunate combination of personal 

 ambition, energy, and talent enabled him to equate private advance- 

 ment with public progress. Never at a loss for grand projects planned 

 with high enthusiasm, Agassiz thoroughly enjoyed his work because 

 in it he fulfilled himself. Fundamental to his intellectual character 

 was the conviction that special knowledge to be truly valuable had 

 to be shared with the intelligent populace. This transmutation of 

 subjective motivation to objective purpose became a basic force in 

 his life, that of a conspicuous public man whose zeal for natural 

 history infected all who heard or read him. 



Such personal and intellectual attributes particularly impressed 

 and appealed to Americans in 1846, the year Agassiz arrived in 

 Boston to lecture at the Lowell Institute and to begin his two-year 

 research period in the United States under the auspices of the Prus- 

 sian monarchy. Hailed as a "capital fellow" by scientists proud to 

 have landed such a "big fish" from Europe, and greeted with uni- 

 versal acclaim, Agassiz basked in the glory and power of a great pub- 

 lic reputation. His remarkable ability to translate the facts of nature 

 into an idiom at once understandable and inspiring, thrilled all classes 

 of Americans. His new admirers marveled at their good fortune in 

 having such a personage in their midst and were overjoyed when 



