The Cincinnati "School" of Paleontology
Abstract
The Cincinnati "School" of Paleontology flourished until near the close of the 19th Century. It was made up mainly of publishing amateurs whose works were viewed with little enthusiasm by the "eastern establishment." Many of the basic descriptions of the local Ordovician fossils first appeared in these works, most of which were privately printed. S. A. Miller, a local lawyer, was the most notable of these amateurs; his great compendia of American fossils were among the most useful publications of the era, and his privately printed descriptions and those in the Journal of the Cincinnati Museum of Natural History compare well with the professional productions of the era. Several of the amateurs eventually became distinguished university professors and leaders in the state and federal geological agencies and institutions. Charles Schuchert, Edward O. Ulrich, John M. Nickles, and Ray S. Bassler are a few of the local fossil-hunters who went on to higher endeavors and achieved notable success in paleontology.
- Publication:
-
Earth Sciences History
- Pub Date:
- January 1982
- DOI:
- 10.17704/eshi.1.1.97155w4622477208
- Bibcode:
- 1982ESHis...1...23C