Address Delivered on the Centennial Anniversary of the Birth of Alexander von Humboldt, under the Auspices of the Boston Society of Natural History. By Louis Agassiz. With an Account of the Evening Reception

A dedicated naturalist, the Swiss-born Louis Agassiz sent his wife back to her family when care of their three children prevented her from fulfilling her role as his scientific assistant. After visiting the United States to give two lectures, Agassiz decided to make the nation his permanent home and accepted an appointment at Harvard University. Agassiz's distinctive explorations in the fields of natural history, biology, geology, and marine paleontology were coupled with a dogged, life-long resistance to Darwin's evolutionary theory. His writings include Natural History of the Fresh-Water Fishes of Europe (1830-40), Principles of Zoology (1848), Contributions to the Natural History of the United States of America (1857-63), and countless other volumes.