Pierre Jean Édouard Desor (13 February 1811, Friedrichsdorf,
Grand Duchy of Hesse
The Grand Duchy of Hesse and by Rhine () 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 as the Grand Duchy of Hesse (). It assumed the name ...
23 February 1882) was a
Swiss
Swiss most commonly refers to:
* the adjectival form of Switzerland
* Swiss people
Swiss may also refer to: Places
* Swiss, Missouri
* Swiss, North Carolina
* Swiss, West Virginia
* Swiss, Wisconsin
Other uses
* Swiss Café, an old café located ...
geologist
A geologist is a scientist who studies the structure, composition, and History of Earth, history of Earth. Geologists incorporate techniques from physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics, and geography to perform research in the Field research, ...
and
naturalist
Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...
.
Biography
Desor studied law at
Giessen
Giessen, spelled in German (), is a town in the Germany, German States of Germany, state () of Hesse, capital of both the Giessen (district), district of Giessen and the Giessen (region), administrative region of Giessen. The population is appro ...
and
Heidelberg
Heidelberg (; ; ) is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fifth-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, and with a population of about 163,000, of which roughly a quarter consists of studen ...
, was compromised in the republican movements of 1832/3 (see, for example, Hambach Festival 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 ''Haup ...
), 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 recei ...
Vogt
An , sometimes simply advocate, (German, ), or (French, ), was a type of medieval office holder, particularly important in the Holy Roman Empire, who was delegated some of the powers and functions of a major feudal lord, or for an institutio ...
, Desor became an active collaborator with Agassiz, studying
palaeontology
Paleontology, also spelled as palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of the life of the past, mainly but not exclusively through the study of fossils. Paleontologists use fossils as a means to classify organisms, measure geo ...
and
glacial
A glacier (; or ) is a persistent body of dense ice, a form of rock, that is constantly moving downhill under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires ...
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 in 1841. He was in a guided party on the first ascent of the Lauteraarhorn on 8 August 1842 and of the Rosenhorn summit of the
Wetterhorn
The Wetterhorn (3,690 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 (3,70 ...
on 28 August 1844.
He spent a few years in the north of Europe, especially in
Scandinavia
Scandinavia is a subregion#Europe, subregion of northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. It can sometimes also ...
, 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 Cretac ...
in 1847, to characterize the oldest
stage
Stage, stages, or staging may refer to:
Arts and media 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 Brit ...
of the
Paleogene
The Paleogene Period ( ; also spelled Palaeogene or Palæogene) is a geologic period and system that spans 43 million years from the end of the Cretaceous Period Ma (million years ago) to the beginning of the Neogene Period Ma. It is the fir ...
. Desor accompanied Agassiz in 1847 to the United States, found employment in the coast survey, and made with Whitney,
Foster
Foster may refer to:
People
* Foster (surname)
* Foster Brooks (1912–2001), American actor
* Foster Moreau (born 1997), American football player
* Foster Sarell (born 1998), American football player
* John Foster Dulles (1888–1959), America ...
, and Rogers a geological survey of the mineral district of
Lake Superior
Lake Superior is the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface areaThe Caspian Sea is the largest lake, but is saline, not freshwater. Lake Michigan–Huron has a larger combined surface area than Superior, but is normally considered tw ...
.
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 disci ...
of the Jura for industrial purposes. Desor became professor of
geology
Geology (). is a branch of natural science concerned with the Earth and other astronomical objects, the rocks of which they are composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Earth ...
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 143.1 Mya. ...
Echinoderm
An echinoderm () is any animal of the phylum Echinodermata (), which includes starfish, brittle stars, sea urchins, sand dollars and sea cucumbers, as well as the sessile sea lilies or "stone lilies". While bilaterally symmetrical as ...
s. He also investigated the old lake-habitations of Switzerland, and made important observations on the physical features of the
Sahara
The Sahara (, ) is a desert spanning across North Africa. With an area of , it is the largest hot desert in the world and the list of deserts by area, third-largest desert overall, smaller only than the deserts of Antarctica and the northern Ar ...
. In 1862, he was elected as a member to the
American Philosophical Society
The American Philosophical Society (APS) is an American scholarly organization and learned society founded in 1743 in Philadelphia that promotes knowledge in the humanities and natural sciences through research, professional meetings, publicat ...
. 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 in Val-de-Travers. He died in
Nice
Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one million
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)
* ''Le paysage morainique'' (1875)