Alfred W. Crosby

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Alfred W. Crosby
Born(1931-01-15)15 January 1931
University of Texas, Austin
University of Helsinki

Alfred Worcester Crosby Jr. (January 15, 1931 – March 14, 2018) was professor of

Ecological Imperialism (1986). In these works, he provided biological and geographical explanations for the question why Europeans were able to succeed with relative ease in what he referred to as the "Neo-Europes" of Australasia, North America, and southern South America
. America's Forgotten Pandemic (1976) is the first major critical history of the 1918 "Spanish" Flu.

Early life

Alfred Worcester Crosby Jr. was born to Ruth (

née Coleman) and Alfred Worcester Crosby Sr. in Boston, Massachusetts, on January 15, 1931, grew up in Wellesley, Massachusetts, and graduated from Wellesley High School.[1][2]

Career

In 1952,[1] Crosby graduated from Harvard University, with a degree in history, then entered the U.S. Army in 1952,[3] during the Korean War, later spending (circa) twenty months stationed in the Panama Canal Zone,[4] in Latin America.[1] After being discharged from the U.S. Army in 1955,[1] he obtained a master's degree in teaching from Harvard in 1956, and a doctorate in history from Boston University in 1961.[5]

Crosby was an inter-disciplinary researcher who combined the fields of history,

1918 flu pandemic on world history.[5]

According to Hal Rothman, a professor of History at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Crosby "added biology to the process of human exploration, coming up with explanations for events as diverse as Cortés' conquest of the Aztec Empire and the fall of the Inca empire that made vital use of the physical essence of humanity."[6]

In 1972 he created the term "

Columbian Exchange" in his book of the same name.[7] The term has become popular among historians and journalists.[8] Other terms coined included 'Neo-Europes'[citation needed] and 'virgin soil epidemic'.[9]

Crosby was also interested in the history of science and technology. He wrote several books on this subject, dealing with the history of quantification, of projectile technology, and the history of the use of energy. He said that the study of history also made him a researcher of the future. He was very much interested in how humankind could make the future a better one.[5]

He taught at

American Studies of the University of Texas at Austin, after teaching for 22 years, in 1999.[5][10][11][12][13]

Personal life

Crosby was interviewed by historian John Frederick Schwaller, who discussed Crosby's life and work.[14]

Crosby's hobbies included birdwatching and jazz, on which topic he could lecture with great expertise. He traveled with thirty-six students to Delano, California to assist in building a health center for the United Farm Workers.[4]

He was married to

Nantucket Island of complications of Parkinson's disease.[1]

Books

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Motyka, John (April 4, 2018). "Alfred Crosby, 'Father of Environmental History,' Is Dead at 87". The New York Times. Retrieved November 23, 2020. His wife, Frances Karttunen, said the cause was complications of Parkinson's disease, which he had lived with for almost 20 years...his survivors include his son, Kevin; his daughter, Carolyn Crosby;...His previous marriages, to Anna Bienemann and Barbara Stevens, ended in divorce.
  2. ^ Schwaller, John F., and Alfred W. Crosby. "Environmental Historian: An Interview with Alfred W. Crosby." The Americas, vol. 72, no. 2, Cambridge University Press, 2015, pp. 309–17, http://www.jstor.org/stable/43897391.
  3. ^ Kaufman, Stephanie (March 15, 2018). "In Memory of Professor Alfred Crosby (1931-2018)". History Department, College of Liberal Arts. University of Texas at Austin. Archived from the original on September 5, 2019. Retrieved November 23, 2020.
  4. ^ . Retrieved November 23, 2020. I entered the U.S. Army during the Korean War and performed gloriously ... July of 1952 in Fort Dix, New Jersey, a certain master sergeant, having ... I spent twenty months or so stationed in the Panama Canal Zone
  5. ^ a b c d e f Saikku, Mikko (April 4, 2018). "Historian ja tulevaisuuden tutkija" [‘Researcher of history and of the future’]. Helsingin Sanomat (in Finnish). Helsinki: Sanoma. p. B 15. Retrieved April 27, 2018.
  6. ^ Rothman, Hal. "Conceptualizing the Real", American Quarterly 54.3 (2002): 485–497. ProQuest. University of Washington, Lynnwood. November 1, 2006.
  7. ^ Crosby, Alfred W. The Columbian Exchange: Biological and Cultural Consequences of 1492, Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1972
  8. ^ de Vorsey, Louis (2001). "The Tragedy of the Columbian Exchange". In McIlwraith, Thomas F; Muller, Edward K (eds.). North America: The Historical Geography of a Changing Continent. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield. p. 27. Thanks to…Crosby's work, the term 'Columbian exchange' is now widely used…
  9. PMID 11633588
    .
  10. ^ a b "Alfred Worcester Crosby". American Academy of Arts & Sciences. Retrieved November 23, 2020.
  11. S2CID 266397121
    . Retrieved November 23, 2020.
  12. ^ "Crosby, Alfred W. (1931-2018)". American Association of Geographers. Retrieved November 23, 2020.
  13. ^ Smith, Harrison (April 5, 2018). "Alfred Crosby, environmental historian of 'Columbian exchange,' dies at 87". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on April 6, 2018. Retrieved November 23, 2020.
  14. ^ Schwaller, John F., and Alfred W. Crosby. "Environmental Historian: An Interview with Alfred W. Crosby." The Americas, vol. 72, no. 2, Cambridge University Press, 2015, pp. 309–17, [1].
  15. ^ Imperato, Pascal James (February 2004). "review of America's Forgotten Pandemic: The Influenza of 1918 by Alfred W. Crosby" (PDF). Journal of Community Health. 29 (1): 100–101.

External links