Eduard Oscar Schmidt was a German zoologist born in Torgau

Torgau

Torgau is a town on the banks of the Elbe in northwestern Saxony, Germany. It is the capital of the district Nordsachsen.Outside Germany, the town is most well known as the place where during the Second World War, United States Army forces coming from the west met with forces of the Soviet Union...

.

He initially studied mathematics

Mathematics

Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...

 and science

Science

Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe...

 at Halle, then continued his education in Berlin

Berlin

Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...

, where he came under the influence of Christian Gottfried Ehrenberg

Christian Gottfried Ehrenberg

Christian Gottfried Ehrenberg , German naturalist, zoologist, comparative anatomist, geologist, and microscopist, was one of the most famous and productive scientists of his time.- Early collections :...

 and Johannes Peter Müller

Johannes Peter Müller

Johannes Peter Müller , was a German physiologist, comparative anatomist, and ichthyologist not only known for his discoveries but also for his ability to synthesize knowledge.-Early years and education:...

. In 1847 he received his habilitation at the University of Jena, and in 1855 was appointed professor of zoology at the University of Cracow. Later he taught classes at the Universities of Graz

University of Graz

The University of Graz , a university located in Graz, Austria, is the second-largest and second-oldest university in Austria....

 (from 1857) and Strasbourg

University of Strasbourg

The University of Strasbourg in Strasbourg, Alsace, France, is the largest university in France, with about 43,000 students and over 4,000 researchers....

 (from 1872).

Schmidt was an early proponent of Darwinian evolutionary thought. He is remembered for his research of Porifera (sponges), particularly species from the Adriatic Sea

Adriatic Sea

The Adriatic Sea is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan peninsula, and the system of the Apennine Mountains from that of the Dinaric Alps and adjacent ranges...

.

Selected publications

• Lehrbuch der Zoologie (Textbook of Zoology), 1854
• Die Entwicklung der vergleichenden Anatomie (Development of Comparative Anatomy), 1855
• Die Spongien des adriatischen Meeres, (Sponges of the Adriatic Sea), 1862
• Descendenzlehre und Darwinismus (The Doctrine of Descent and Darwinism), 1873