Louis Agassiz Autographs, Memorabilia & Collectibles

Born in French-speaking Switzerland and educated at European universities, Louis Agassiz (1807-1873) accepted a Professorship at Harvard (1848) and spent the rest of his life promoting American science. He made highly influential studies of fossil fish and glaciers, coining the term "Ice Age" to describe an ancient era of extensive glaciation. Although his fossil studies were used by others to support Darwin's Theory of Evolution, Agassiz never accepted that doctrine. He espoused catastrophism, believing that new species emerged after such upheavals, and defined a species as "a thought of God".