Alfred Gabriel Nathorst

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Alfred Gabriel Nathorst

Alfred Gabriel Nathorst (7 November 1850 – 20 January 1921) was a Swedish

palaeobotanist
.

Life

He was born in Väderbrunn in Sweden. Nathorst's interest in geology was awakened by Charles Lyell's Principles of Geology and, at the age of 21, Nathorst visited Lyell in England in 1872.[1]

Nathorst was employed at the Geological Survey of Sweden in 1873–84. He was then appointed professor, by royal decree on the 5 December 1884, and was simultaneously made curator of the new "Department of Archegoniates and Fossil Plants" at the Swedish Museum of Natural History. He remained at this post until his retirement in 1917.

Nathorst visited

S. A. Andrée's Arctic balloon expedition of 1897. The Andreé expedition was not found, however Nathorst found and mapped the Antarctic Sound, a fjord branch connecting Kaiser Franz Joseph Fjord to the north with the head of King Oscar Fjord to the south.[3] The two expeditions are described in two volumes Två somrar i Norra Ishavet (in Swedish
).

Starting with macrofossil deposited in

palaeobotany
.

Nathorst had a scientific dispute with

glaciation[4] – the nunatak hypothesis, while Nathorst considered that the entire flora had immigrated anew after the glaciation[5][6] – the tabula rasa hypothesis
.

He was an elected member of many learned societies, including the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences (1885). He died on 20 January 1921.

Legacy

A number of plant, animal and fungal species have been named to his honour, e.g.

Williamsonia nathorstii Carruthers (a fossil dragonfly) and Laestadites nathorstii Mesch.
(a fossil fungus).

Nathorst Land in East Central Greenland is named after him. On

Bjørnøya, is named after him.[9]

The standard author abbreviation Nath. is used to indicate this person as the author when citing a botanical name.[10]

See also

Sources

  1. ^ Seward, A. C. (1921) Alfred Gabriel Nathorst. Botanical Gazette 71 (6): 462-465.
  2. ^ Nordenskiöld, A.E. (1885). Den andra Dicksonska Expeditionen till Grönland, dess inre isöken och dess Ostkust utförd år 1883 under befäl af A. E. Nordenskiöld [The second Dickson Expedition to Greenland, its inner Ice Desert and its East Coast conducted 1883 under command of A. E. Nordenskiöld] (in Swedish). Stockholm: F. & G. Beijers Förlag.
  3. ^ Spencer Apollonio, Lands That Hold One Spellbound: A Story of East Greenland, 2008, p. 81
  4. ^ Warming, E. (1888) Über Grönlands Vegetation. Englers Botanische Jahrbücher, 10.
  5. ^ Nathorst, A. G. (1892) Kritische Bemerkungen über die Geschichte der Vegetation Grönlands. Englers Botanische Jahrbücher, 14: 183-221.
  6. ^ Warming, E. (1891) Geschichte der Flora Grönlands: Antikritische Bemerkungen zu A.G. Nathorsts Aufsatz. Englers Botanische Jahrbücher, 14.
  7. ^ "Nathorst Land (Svalbard)". Norwegian Polar Institute. Archived from the original on December 8, 2015. Retrieved 28 May 2014.
  8. ^ "Nathorstbreen (Svalbard)". Norwegian Polar Institute. Archived from the original on May 29, 2014. Retrieved 28 May 2014.
  9. ^ "Alfredfjellet (Svalbard)". Norwegian Polar Institute. Retrieved 28 May 2014.
  10. ^ International Plant Names Index.  Nath.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Alfred Gabriel Nathorst.
Wikispecies has information related to Alfred Gabriel Nathorst.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Alfred_Gabriel_Nathorst&oldid=1191848745"