16 Facts About Edward Hitchcock

Edward Hitchcock was an American geologist and the third President of Amherst College.

Edward Hitchcock left the ministry to become Professor of Chemistry and Natural History at Amherst College.

Edward Hitchcock held that post from 1825 to 1845, serving as Professor of Natural Theology and Geology from 1845 until his death in 1864.

In 1845, Hitchcock became President of the College, a post he held until 1854.

Edward Hitchcock is credited with developing the college's scientific resources and establishing its reputation for scientific teaching.

Edward Hitchcock ran the first geological survey of Massachusetts, and in 1830 was appointed state geologist of Massachusetts.

Edward Hitchcock played a role in the geological surveys of New York and Vermont.

Edward Hitchcock discovered some of the first fossil fishes in the United States.

Edward Hitchcock published papers on fossilized tracks in the Connecticut Valley, including Eubrontes and Otozoum, that were later associated with dinosaurs, though he believed, with a certain prescience, that they were made by gigantic ancient birds.

Since he had done geological research on the Holyoke Range, one of the mountains there, Mount Edward Hitchcock, was named after him.

Edward Hitchcock was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1834.

From 1856 to 1861, Edward Hitchcock was the State Geologist for Vermont.

Edward Hitchcock inserted a paleontological chart in his Elementary Geology.

Edward Hitchcock explicitly rejected evolution and a religious six-day creation.

Edward Hitchcock believed that new species were introduced by a Deity at the right time in the history of the earth.

In 1863 Edward Hitchcock wrote an article in which he criticized Darwin's theory of natural selection.