Amos Eaton
Encyclopedia
Amos Eaton was a scientist and educator in the Troy, New York
Troy, New York
Troy is a city in the US State of New York and the seat of Rensselaer County. Troy is located on the western edge of Rensselaer County and on the eastern bank of the Hudson River. Troy has close ties to the nearby cities of Albany and Schenectady, forming a region popularly called the Capital...
area.
Eaton attended Williams College
Williams College
Williams College is a private liberal arts college located in Williamstown, Massachusetts, United States. It was established in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim Williams. Originally a men's college, Williams became co-educational in 1970. Fraternities were also phased out during this...
; after graduating in 1799 he studied law in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
and was admitted to the state bar in 1802. He practiced law in Catskill, New York
Catskill (town), New York
Catskill is a town in the southeast part of Greene County, New York, United States. The population was 11,775 at the 2010 census. The western part of the town is in the Catskill Park....
until 1810, when he was jailed on charges of forgery. He spent nearly five years in prison, where he studied botany and geology and tutored the sons of the board of governors of the prison; one of his students was John Torrey, later a distinguished botanist. On his release, Eaton spent a year at Yale College
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
studying botany, chemistry and mineralogy under Benjamin Silliman
Benjamin Silliman
Benjamin Silliman was an American chemist, one of the first American professors of science , and the first to distill petroleum.-Early life:...
and Eli Ives. He then returned to Williams College, where he lectured on zoology, botany and geology and published a botanical dictionary. In 1817, he published his Manual of Botany for the Northern States, the first comprehensive flora
Flora
Flora is the plant life occurring in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring or indigenous—native plant life. The corresponding term for animals is fauna.-Etymology:...
of the area; it ultimately went through eight editions.
He returned to New York State in 1817 where DeWitt Clinton
DeWitt Clinton
DeWitt Clinton was an early American politician and naturalist who served as United States Senator and the sixth Governor of New York. In this last capacity he was largely responsible for the construction of the Erie Canal...
arranged for him to deliver a series of lectures to the New York State Legislature on the state's geology in connection with the building of the Erie Canal
Erie Canal
The Erie Canal is a waterway in New York that runs about from Albany, New York, on the Hudson River to Buffalo, New York, at Lake Erie, completing a navigable water route from the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes. The canal contains 36 locks and encompasses a total elevation differential of...
. Among the legislators who heard these lectures was Stephen Van Rensselaer III
Stephen Van Rensselaer III
Stephen Van Rensselaer III was Lieutenant Governor of New York as well as a statesman, soldier, and land-owner, the heir to one of the largest estates in the New York region at the time, which made him the tenth richest American of all time, based on the ratio of his fortune to contemporary GDP...
, patroon
Patroon
In the United States, a patroon was a landholder with manorial rights to large tracts of land in the 17th century Dutch colony of New Netherland in North America...
of Rensselaerswyck, who, in 1820, hired him to produce A geological Survey of the County of Albany, which was followed by geological surveys of much of the area through which the canal was built. Ultimately, Eaton would complete a survey of a section fifty miles wide from Buffalo to Boston.
In 1824, with Rensselaer's assistance, he co-founded The Rensselaer School (now known as Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Stephen Van Rensselaer established the Rensselaer School on November 5, 1824 with a letter to the Rev. Dr. Samuel Blatchford, in which van Rensselaer asked Blatchford to serve as the first president. Within the letter he set down several orders of business. He appointed Amos Eaton as the school's...
) "for the purpose of instructing persons, who may choose to apply themselves, in the application of science to the common purposes of life". Eaton served as Senior Professor at The Rensselaer School until the time of his death in 1842. Under his leadership, Troy, New York rivaled London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
as a center for geological studies in the first part of the 19th century.
Eaton's influence at RPI is still visible in several areas: The mathematics department is housed in Amos Eaton Hall
Amos Eaton Hall
Amos Eaton Hall is the current home of the at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, NY. It is named for Amos Eaton, the co-founder and first senior professor of Rensselaer. Amos Eaton Hall is the only building on the campus referred to by both first and last name...
, and the Amos Eaton Professorship is a named professorship at RPI (currently occupied by Dr. Joseph Flaherty). The Amos Eaton Chair is a chair originally given to Amos Eaton by the RPI students in 1839, and later donated back to RPI by Eaton's family, and is now used by the RPI President during formal events. Amos Eaton was inducted into RPI's hall of fame
Hall of Fame
A hall of fame, wall of fame, walk of fame, walk of stars or avenue of stars is a type of attraction established for any field of endeavor to honor individuals of noteworthy achievement in that field...
in the inaugural class of 1998.
Eaton's students
- James Dwight DanaJames Dwight DanaJames Dwight Dana was an American geologist, mineralogist and zoologist. He made pioneering studies of mountain-building, volcanic activity, and the origin and structure of continents and oceans around the world.-Early life and career:...
— Geologist, zoologist - James EightsJames EightsJames Eights was an American physician, scientist, and artist. He was born in Albany, New York, the son of physician Jonathan Eights and Alida Wynkoop...
— Antarctic explorer. - Asa GrayAsa Gray-References:*Asa Gray. Dictionary of American Biography. American Council of Learned Societies, 1928–1936.*Asa Gray. Encyclopedia of World Biography, 2nd ed. 17 Vols. Gale Research, 1998.*Asa Gray. Plant Sciences. 4 vols. Macmillan Reference USA, 2001....
— botanist - James HallJames Hall (paleontologist)James Hall was an American geologist and paleontologist. He was a noted authority on stratigraphy and had an influential role in the development of American paleontology.-Early life:...
— First New York State Geologist. - Joseph HenryJoseph HenryJoseph Henry was an American scientist who served as the first Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, as well as a founding member of the National Institute for the Promotion of Science, a precursor of the Smithsonian Institution. During his lifetime, he was highly regarded...
— Developed ElectromagnetismElectromagnetismElectromagnetism is one of the four fundamental interactions in nature. The other three are the strong interaction, the weak interaction and gravitation...
. - Douglass HoughtonDouglass HoughtonDouglass Houghton was an American geologist and physician, primarily known for his exploration of the Keweenaw Peninsula of Michigan.-Early life and education:...
— doctor, chemist, geologist. - John Leonard RiddellJohn Leonard RiddellJohn Leonard Riddell was a science lecturer, botanist, geologist, medical doctor, chemist, microscopist, numismatician, politician, and science fiction author in the United States. He was born in Leyden, Massachusetts, the son of John Riddell and Lephe Gates. He received his B.A. and M.A...
— botanist, geologist and author. - John Torrey — botanist