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Dromo's Den
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[Up] [Dromo's Den] Joseph Le Conte Biography LE
CONTE, Joseph (1823-1901). An eminent American geologist, the son of Louis
Le Conte. He was born in Liberty Co., Ga., and graduated at Franklin College
(University of Georgia) in 1841. After receiving a medical degree at the College
of Physicians and Surgeons in New York City (1845), he returned to his native
State to practice at Macon. In 1850 he entered the Lawrence Scientific School,
Harvard, for the purpose of studying under Agassiz;
the next year, after graduating B.S., he accompanied Agassiz on a scientific and
exploring expedition to Florida. He served successively as professor of natural
science in Oglethorpe College, professor of natural history in Franklin College,
and' from 1857 to 1869 as professor of chemistry and geology in the University
of South Carolina. In 1869 he was appointed to the chair of geology in the
University of California, which office he retained until his death. Professor Le
Conte did much to popularize the study of geology in America and also
contributed many valuable philosophical papers to geological literature. He was
elected vice president of the International Geological Congress In 1891, in the
following year president of the American Association for the Advancement of
Science, and in 1896 president of the Geological Society of America. The more
important of his publications are: Religion
and Science (1873); Elements of
Geology (1878; 5th ed., rev. by H. L. Fairchild, 1903); Sight
(1881); Compend of Geology (1884); Evolution:
Its Nature, its Evidence, and its Relation to Religious Thought (1887).
Besides important papers contributed to
geological journals, he wrote many essays on
biology, philosophy, optics,. and other subjects. Consult S. B., Christy in Transactions
of the American Institute of Mining Engineers, vol. xxxi. (New York, 1902), including bibliography,
and Autobiography, edited by W. D. Armes (ib.,
1903). A review of his geologic work is printed
in the Bulletin of the Geological
Society of America, vol. xxvi (ib., 1915). The New International
Encyclopaedia, Vol.
XIII
(New York: Dodd, Mead & Co., 1920)
698.
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