Theodore Nicholas Gill (March 21, 1837 – September 25, 1914) was an American

ichthyologist Ichthyology is the branch of zoology devoted to the study of fish, including bony fish (Osteichthyes), cartilaginous fish (Chondrichthyes), and jawless fish (Agnatha). According to FishBase, 33,400 species of fish had been described as of October ...

, mammalogist,

malacologist Malacology is the branch of invertebrate zoology that deals with the study of the Mollusca (mollusks or molluscs), the second-largest phylum of animals in terms of described species after the arthropods. Mollusks include snails and slugs, clams, ...

and

librarian A librarian is a person who works professionally in a library providing access to information, and sometimes social or technical programming, or instruction on information literacy to users. The role of the librarian has changed much over time ...

Career

Born and educated in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

under private tutors, Gill early showed interest in natural history. He was associated with

J. Carson Brevoort James Carson Brevoort (July 10, 1818 – December 7, 1887) was an American collector of rare books and coins. He served as superintendent of the Astor Library for two years, also serving as trustee. Biography J. Carson Brevoort was born in Bloo ...

in the arrangement of the latter's entomological and ichthyological collections before going to Washington D.C. in 1863 to work at the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...

. He catalogued mammals,

fish Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% ...

es and

mollusk Mollusca is the second-largest phylum of invertebrate animals after the Arthropoda, the members of which are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 85,000 extant species of molluscs are recognized. The number of fossil species is es ...

s most particularly although maintaining proficiency in other orders of animals. He was librarian at the Smithsonian and also senior assistant to the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The librar ...

. He was elected as a member of 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 communi ...

in 1867. Gill was professor of

zoology Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the animal kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, and ...

George Washington University , mottoeng = "God is Our Trust" , established = , type = Private federally chartered research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $2.8 billion (2022) , presi ...

. He was also a member of the Megatherium Club at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. Fellow members frequently mocked him for his vanity. He was president of the

American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is an American international non-profit organization with the stated goals of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific responsi ...

in 1897. He was a founding member of the

Cosmos Club The Cosmos Club is a 501(c)(7) private social club in Washington, D.C. that was founded by John Wesley Powell in 1878 as a gentlemen's club for those interested in science. Among its stated goals is, "The advancement of its members in science, ...

Publications

Besides 400 separate papers on scientific subjects, his major publications include: * 1871. ''Arrangements of the Families of Mollusks'' 49 pp. * 1872. ''Arrangement of the Families of Mammals'' 98 pp. * 1872. ''Arrangement of the Families of Fishes'' * 1875. ''Catalogue of the Fishes of the East Coast of North America'' * 1882. ''Bibliography of the Fishes of the Pacific of the United States to the End of 1879'' * ''Reports on Zoology'' for the annual volumes of the Smithsonian Institution from 1879

References

*Abbott, R.T., and M.E. Young (eds.). 1973. American Malacologists: A national register of professional and amateur malacologists and private shell collectors and biographies of early American mollusk workers born between 1618 and 1900. American Malacologists, Falls Church, Virginia. Consolidated/Drake Press, Philadelphia. 494 pp. *Obituary in ''The Auk,'' October 1914, Number 4. *Appleton's Cyclopedia of American Biography, edited by James Grant Wilson, John Fiske and Stanley L. Klos. Six volumes, New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1887–1889

External links

Smithsonian biography of Theodore GillA pdf biography of T.N. Gill
at the

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Nat ...

webstire {{DEFAULTSORT:Gill, Theodore American ichthyologists American malacologists American mammalogists American taxonomists American librarians 1837 births 1914 deaths Scientists from New York City George Washington University faculty

Career

Publications

See also

References

External links