Isaac Lea
| Isaac Lea | |
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 Isaac Lea
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| Born | March 4, 1792 Wilmington, Delaware |
| Died | December 8, 1886 (aged 94) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| Nationality | USA |
Isaac Lea (March 4, 1792 in Wilmington, Delaware - December 8, 1886 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)[1] was an American conchologist, geologist, and businessman, who was born in Wilmington, Delaware.[2]
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[edit] Life
Lea was a partner of a large publishing house in Philadelphia.[2] He devoted his leisure time to the collection and study of objects of natural history.[2] He was especially interested in freshwater and land mollusks, and for 50 years he made contributions to the transactions of the scientific societies of Philadelphia concerning these animals.[2]
His immense collection of freshwater mussels from the family Unionidae, and his other collections, are deposited in the National Museum at Washington.[2]
He was President of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 1860.[3]
[edit] Family
On March 8, 1821, Isaac married Frances Anne Carey (1799–1873), daughter of Mathew Carey, the Philadelphia publisher. His son, Henry Charles Lea (September 19, 1825 - October 24, 1909) was an American historian, civic reformer, and political activist in Philadelphia.
[edit] Publications
His publications included:
- (1827-1874). Observations on the Genus Unio. 13 volumes.
- (1833). Contributions to Geology
- (1838). Synopsis of the Family of Naiades
- Lea I. (1838). "Description of New Freshwater and Land Shells". Transactions of the American Philosophical Society 6: 1-154.
- (1852). Fossil Footmarks in the Red Sandstones of Pottsville
Molluscan taxa named by Lea include:
- Euglandina vanuxemensis (Lea, 1834) - a carnivorous land snail
[edit] References
- This article incorporates text from an edition of the New International Encyclopedia that is in the public domain.
- ^ http://www.chlt.org/sandbox/lhl/dsb/page.103.php
- ^ a b c d e New International Encyclopedia
- ^ Baltzell, E. Digby (1958). Philadelphia Gentlemen. Glencoe, Illinois: The Free Press. p. 149. "Lea's intellectual and scientific interests led him to the presidency of both the American Academy of Natural Sciences (1858-1863), and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (1860), and the vice-presidency of the American Philosophical Society."
