Pierre Jean Édouard Desor (13 February 1811,
Friedrichsdorf
Friedrichsdorf () is a town of the Hochtaunuskreis, some north of Frankfurt am Main
Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inh ...
,
Grand Duchy of Hesse
The Grand Duchy of Hesse and by Rhine (german: link=no, Großherzogtum Hessen und bei Rhein) was a grand duchy in western Germany that existed from 1806 to 1918. The Grand Duchy originally formed from the Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt in 1806 ...
23 February 1882) was a German-
Swiss
Swiss may refer to:
* the adjectival form of Switzerland
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*Swiss, West Virginia
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*Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports
*Swiss Internation ...
geologist
A geologist is a scientist who studies the solid, liquid, and gaseous matter that constitutes Earth and other terrestrial planets, as well as the processes that shape them. Geologists usually study geology, earth science, or geophysics, althou ...
and
naturalist.
Biography
Desor studied law at
Giessen
Giessen, spelled Gießen in German (), is a town in the German state (''Bundesland'') of Hesse, capital of both the district of Giessen and the administrative region of Giessen. The population is approximately 90,000, with roughly 37,000 univers ...
and
Heidelberg
Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...
, was compromised in the republican movements of 1832/3 (see, for example,
Hambach Festival
The Hambacher Festival was a German national democratic festival celebrated from 27 May to 30 May 1832 at Hambach Castle, near Neustadt an der Weinstraße, in present-day Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. The event was disguised as a nonpolitical co ...
and
Frankfurter Wachensturm
The Frankfurter Wachensturm (German: charge of the Frankfurt guard house) on 3 April 1833 was a failed attempt to start a revolution in Germany.
Events
About 50 students attacked the soldiers and policemen of the Frankfurt Police offices '' Hau ...
), and escaped to Paris. Here his attention was drawn to geology. He made excursions with
Élie de Beaumont, and in 1837 met
Louis Agassiz
Jean Louis Rodolphe Agassiz ( ; ) 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.
Spending his early life in Switzerland, he rec ...
at a meeting of naturalists in
Neufchâtel. With
Gressli
Gressli is a village in the municipality of Tydal in Trøndelag county, Norway. The village is located along the Nea River, about west of the municipal center of Ås and about west of the village of Aunet.
History
In 1878, 2,253 coins were fo ...
and
Vogt
During the Middle Ages, an (sometimes given as modern English: advocate; German: ; French: ) was an office-holder who was legally delegated to perform some of the secular responsibilities of a major feudal lord, or for an institution such as ...
, Desor became an active collaborator with Agassiz, studying
palaeontology
Paleontology (), also spelled palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of life that existed prior to, and sometimes including, the start of the Holocene epoch (roughly 11,700 years before present). It includes the study of fossi ...
and
glacial
A glacial period (alternatively glacial or glaciation) is an interval of time (thousands of years) within an ice age that is marked by colder temperatures and glacier advances. Interglacials, on the other hand, are periods of warmer climate betw ...
phenomena, and contributing the essays for vol. iii. of Agassiz's ''Monographie d'echinodermes vivants et fossiles'' (Neufchâtel, 1842). Desor also published ''Excursions et sejours dans les glaciers et les hautes régions des Alpes de M. Agassiz et de ses compagnons de voyage'' (Neufchâtel, 1844).
Together with
James David Forbes
James David Forbes (1809–1868) was a Scottish physicist and glaciologist who worked extensively on the conduction of heat and seismology. Forbes was a resident of Edinburgh for most of his life, educated at its University and a professor ...
, Desor ascended the
Jungfrau
The Jungfrau ( "maiden, virgin"), at is one of the main summits of the Bernese Alps, located between the northern canton of Bern and the southern canton of Valais, halfway between Interlaken and Fiesch. Together with the Eiger and Mönch, the J ...
in 1841.
He was in a guided party on the first ascent of the
Lauteraarhorn
The Lauteraarhorn is a peak (4,042 m) of the Bernese Alps, located in the canton of Bern. Together with the higher Schreckhorn, to which it is connected by a high ridge, it lies between the valleys of the Lower Grindelwald Glacier and the Unteraa ...
on 8 August 1842 and of the
Rosenhorn
The Rosenhorn (3,689 m) is a peak in the Bernese Alps in the Bernese Oberland. It is lowest of the three composing the Wetterhorner massif, and most distant from the alpine village of Grindelwald to the southwest.
The Rosenhorn is entirely sur ...
summit of the
Wetterhorn
The Wetterhorn (3,692 m) is a peak in the Swiss Alps towering above the village of Grindelwald. Formerly known as Hasle Jungfrau, it is one of three summits on a mountain named the "Wetterhörner", the highest of which is the Mittelhorn (3,704 ...
on 28 August 1844.
He spent a few years in the north of Europe, especially in
Scandinavia
Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion#Europe, subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, ...
, investigating the erratic phenomena peculiar to that region, From strata he examined in Denmark he introduced the term
Danian
The Danian is the oldest age or lowest stage of the Paleocene Epoch or Series, of the Paleogene Period or System, and of the Cenozoic Era or Erathem. The beginning of the Danian (and the end of the preceding Maastrichtian) is at the Cretaceous ...
in 1847, to characterize the oldest
stage
Stage or stages may refer to:
Acting
* Stage (theatre), a space for the performance of theatrical productions
* Theatre, a branch of the performing arts, often referred to as "the stage"
* ''The Stage'', a weekly British theatre newspaper
* Sta ...
of the
Paleogene
The Paleogene ( ; British English, also spelled Palaeogene or Palæogene; informally Lower Tertiary or Early Tertiary) is a geologic period, geologic period and system that spans 43 million years from the end of the Cretaceous Period million yea ...
. Desor accompanied Agassiz in 1847 to the United States, found employment in the coast survey, and made with
Whitney Whitney may refer to:
Film and television
* ''Whitney'' (2015 film), a Whitney Houston biopic starring Yaya DaCosta
* ''Whitney'' (2018 film), a documentary about Whitney Houston
* ''Whitney'' (TV series), an American sitcom that premiered i ...
,
Foster, and
Rogers Rogers may refer to:
Places
Canada
*Rogers Pass (British Columbia)
* Rogers Island (Nunavut)
United States
* Rogers, Arkansas, a city
* Rogers, alternate name of Muroc, California, a former settlement
* Rogers, Indiana, an unincorporated communit ...
a geological survey of the mineral district of
Lake Superior
Lake Superior in central North America is the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface areaThe Caspian Sea is the largest lake, but is saline, not freshwater. and the third-largest by volume, holding 10% of the world's surface fresh wa ...
.
Returning to Neufchâtel in 1852, he investigated with Gressli the
orography
Orography is the study of the topographic relief of mountains, and can more broadly include hills, and any part of a region's elevated terrain. Orography (also known as ''oreography'', ''orology'' or ''oreology'') falls within the broader discipl ...
of the
Jura for industrial purposes. Desor became professor of
geology
Geology () is a branch of natural science concerned with Earth and other astronomical objects, the features or rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Ear ...
at the academy of Neuchâtel, continued his studies on the structure of glaciers, but gave special attention to the study of
Jurassic
The Jurassic ( ) is a Geological period, geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system that spanned from the end of the Triassic Period million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period, approximately Mya. The J ...
Echinoderm
An echinoderm () is any member of the phylum Echinodermata (). The adults are recognisable by their (usually five-point) radial symmetry, and include starfish, brittle stars, sea urchins, sand dollars, and sea cucumbers, as well as the sea ...
s. He also investigated the old lake-habitations of Switzerland, and made important observations on the physical features of the
Sahara
, photo = Sahara real color.jpg
, photo_caption = The Sahara taken by Apollo 17 astronauts, 1972
, map =
, map_image =
, location =
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, ...
.
In 1862, he was elected as a member to the
American Philosophical Society
The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...
. He was elected a member of the
American Antiquarian Society
The American Antiquarian Society (AAS), located in Worcester, Massachusetts, is both a learned society and a national research library of pre-twentieth-century American history and culture. Founded in 1812, it is the oldest historical society in ...
in 1871.
Having inherited considerable property he retired to
Combe Varin
A combe (; also spelled coombe or coomb and, in place names, comb) can refer either to a steep, narrow valley, or to a small valley or large hollow on the side of a hill; in any case, it is often understood simply to mean a small valley through wh ...
in
Val-de-Travers
Val-de-Travers is a municipality in the canton of Neuchâtel in Switzerland. It was created on 1 January 2009, when the former municipalities of Boveresse, Buttes, Couvet, Fleurier, Les Bayards, Môtiers, Noiraigue, Saint-Sulpice and Travers ...
. He died in
Nice
Nice ( , ; Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative c ...
on 23 February 1882.
Works
His chief publications were:
*
* ''Synopsis des Échinides fossiles'' (1858)
* ''Aus Sahara und Atlas'' (Leipzig, 1865)
* ''Der Gebirgsbau der Alpen'' (1865)
* ''Die Pfahlbauten des Neuenburger Sees'' (1866)
* ''Échinologie helvétique'' (2 vols., Paris, 1868–1873, with
Perceval de Loriol
Charles Louis Perceval de Loriol (24 July 1828, Geneva – 23 December 1908, Cologny) was a Swiss paleontologist and stratigraphist.
He studied natural sciences and paleontology in Geneva as a pupil of François-Jules Pictet. For a period ...
)
* ''Le paysage morainique'' (1875)
Taxa named by Pierre Jean Édouard Desor
*''
Asterias forbesi
''Asterias forbesi'', commonly known as Forbes sea star, is a species of starfish in the family Asteriidae. It is found in shallow waters in the northwest Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea.
Description
left, Underside of ''Asterias forbesi'' ...
'' - the Forbes Sea star.
Notes
References
*
*
External links
* Pictures and texts o
''Excursions et séjours dans les glaciers et les hautes régions des Alpes, de M. Agassis et de ses compagnons de voyage'' by Edouard Desord can be found in the database VIATIMAGES
{{DEFAULTSORT:Desor, Pierre Jean Edouard
1811 births
1882 deaths
People from Friedrichsdorf
People from the Grand Duchy of Hesse
19th-century Swiss geologists
Swiss mountain climbers
German emigrants to Switzerland
Members of the American Antiquarian Society