William Maclure

William James Maclure is a geologist and American Pédagogue , born the October 27th 1763 with Ayr, Scotland and dead the March 23rd 1840 with San Angel, close to Mexico City.

Biography

He is the son of David and Year (born Kennedy) McClure. He is baptized James but he will change later his first name into William as well as the C-W communication of his family name. William has two brothers, Alexander and John, and three sisters, Helen, Anna and Margaret. The family settles with Glasgow then with Liverpool.

The William young person begins his studies with Ayr and seems not to have attended any university. He starts to work in the trade very early. The date of its first voyage is not known with precision, but years 1778 and 1782 were advanced by its biographers. Starting from 1782, it becomes representing it in London of an American firm, Miller, Hart and Co. and can, consequently, frequently travel to Europe during the fifteen following years. It settles with Philadelphia in 1796 and obtains American nationality with Détroit the same year.

He becomes member of the American Philosophical Society in 1799. The same year, it leaves in Europe and settles with Paris. There is will spend the fifteen following years. He had discovered and adopted the principles and the geological methods developed by Abraham Gottlob Werner (1749 or 1750-1817) a few years earlier. During its European stay, it makes many geological excursions and traverses the continent. In 1803, he becomes Member of the American Commission on the spoliation of the tradind ships of the United States seized by France during the period 1797 - 1801.

During a Swiss voyage in with Joseph Carrington Cabell (1778-1856) in 1805, it visits the school of Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi (1746-1827) with Yverdon-the-Baths. This visit convinces it of the interest of this teaching method and Maclure sends Francis Joseph Nicholas Neef (1770-1854) in 1806 and 1809 to open the first school inspired of Pestalozzi in the United States.

From return to the United States in 1808, it passes nearly one year and half to be realized, only, a geological statement of the river the Mississippi. He traverses a vast area going of the Maine to the Georgia. He makes appear to his results under the title of Observations one the Geology one the United States, Explanatory off has Geological Map in 1809. It is thanks to its action and at the same period, that it attracts in the United States of the scientists such as Gerald Troost (1776-1850), Silvain Godon (v.1769-1840) and, a little later, Charles Alexandre Lesueur (1778-1846).

Maclure turns over in Europe in 1809 in order to write a report and to carry out a chart on the geology of this continent. He becomes off member of the Academy Natural Sciences off Philadelphia in 1812. But it carries out especially harvests of specimens that it forwards to the American schools and universities. It leaves the France with the autumn 1815 and travels with A.C. Lesueur in Great Britain then in the the Caribbean. Of return to the United States in 1816, it travels in the Delaware, the Maryland, the Pennsylvania and in the State of New York. A.C. Lesueur then starts to collect data to carry out a fauna of fish of North America with the support of Maclure. This one off chairs Academy Natural Sciences off Philadelphia of 1817 1840; it gives at this institution of many books and specimens, it gives, moreover, an average of thousand dollars per annum. It makes appear a version corrected and enriched by the geology of the United States in 1818.

Maclure finances a forwarding during the winter 1817 - 1818 on the coasts of Georgia and the east of the Florida. His/her travelling companions are the artist and naturalist Titian Ramsay Peale (1799-1885), the ornithologist George Ord (1781-1856) and the entomologist Thomas Say (1787-1834). In addition to the subsidies which it grants T. Say for its research, it also finances a forwarding of Thomas Nuttall (1786-1859) in the basin of the Arkansas.

It turns over in Europe and spends two years in France and Italy. In 1820, it goes to Madrid for health reasons. It plans to found a school of Agronomie to Alicante when the turbid counter-revolutionaries royalist force it to leave the Spain. In 1824 - 1825, it travels in Ireland, Scotland and England. He visits in particular manufactures and model schools of New Lanark then directed by Robert Owen (1771-1858), this industrial Utopia strongly impresses Maclure.

Maclure then sells its apartment with Paris and turns over to America. His/her friends incite it to join them to found a Community and socialist society project with New Harmony (Indiana). He becomes more or less the person in charge of the educational and scientific programs, Maclure takes along with him of the teachers pestalozziens like Francis Joseph Nicholas Neef (1770-1854), Marie Duclos Fretageot (1820-1833), William S. Phiquepal d' Arusmont, T. Say, A.C. Lesueur and G. Troost. Although the project of Owen fails in less than one year, the majority of the members of the group of Maclure remain in place and continuous to work thanks to the financial supports of William Maclure. A school devoted to the industry equipped with a publisher; this one made appear important works like some boards of the American Ichthyology (1827) of A.C. Lesueur, some numbers of American Conchology (1830 - 1838 of T. Say and a rendering of North American Sylva of François Andre Michaux (1770-1855) (the boards had been acquired by Maclure in Europe).

But its health is not good also Maclure leaves to Mexico City. He undertakes an important correspondence which enables him to follow the evolution of its projects so much to Philadelphia in New Harmony.

During all this period, it makes appear many publications in geology but also on on economics, pedagogy or politics. Although it follows the system of Abraham Gottlob Werner (1749 or 1750-1817), it is neither in favor of the catastrophism, nor of the neptunism. Amos Eaton (1776-1842) will say of him which he is the best geologist than he knows, in spite of the heterogeneity of its work. William Maclure can be truly regarded as the father of American geology.

Source

Keir B. Sterling, Richard P. Harmond, George A. Cevasco & Lorne F. Hammond (to dir.) (1997). Biographical dictionary off American and Canadian naturalists and environmentalists . Greenwood Close (Westport): xix + 937 p.

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