Gustav Eisen

Gustav Eisen
Gustavus Augustus Eisen (August 2, 1847 − October 29, 1940) was a Swedish-American polymath. He became a member of California Academy of Sciences in 1874 and a Life Member in 1883. In 1893, he became the 'Curator of Archaeology, Ethnology, and Lower Animals' at the academy. He later changed titles to 'Curator of Marine Invertebrates'. In 1938, he was appointed as an 'Honorary Member', which is considered the highest honor from the academy.
Biography
Eisen was born in Stockholm, Sweden, on August 2, 1847. He attended school at Visby and later graduated from the University of Uppsala in 1873. He came to
California that same year to participate in a biotic survey sponsored by the Swedish Academy of Sciences. He decided to make California his home and joined the California Academy of Sciences the following year.
He was known to have diverse interests, including "art and art history, archeology and anthropology, agronomy and horticulture, history of science, geography and cartography, cytology, and protozoology, as well as marine invertebrate zoology"
A 2012 article in the San Francisco Chronicle describes him as, "One of those 19th century polymaths, Eisen also studied malaria-vector mosquitoes, founded a vineyard in Fresno, introduced avocados and Smyrna figs to California, campaigned to save the giant sequoias, and wrote a multivolume book about the Holy Grail."
He is perhaps best known for his studies of oligochete worms and many species were named after him including those in the genus Eisenia. In addition, he is considered to have been responsible for the introduction of the avocado and the smyrna fig to California and he wrote a detailed history of figs
He was a correspondent of Charles Darwin and his work was referenced twice by Darwin in The Formation of Vegetable Mould through the Action of Worms.
Mt. Eisen, in the Sierra Nevada in California, was named after him.
World renown
Eisen's opinions were sought on the practicalities of new horticulture crops in Australia. His advice was valued in fig cultivation and in processing grapes into raisins.
Organisms named after him
Earthworms
Achaeta eiseni Vejdovsky
Diplocardia eiseni Michaelsen
Eisenia eiseni Levinsen
Eisenia Malm
Eisenia fetida
Eisenia hortensis
Eisenia andrei
Eiseniona Omodeo
Eisenoides Gates
Eiseniella Michaelsen
Eukerria eiseniana Rosa
Fridericia eiseni Dózsa-Farkas
Brown algae
Eisenia Areschoug
Eisenia bicyclis
Eisenia arborea Areschoug
Vascular Plants
Phacelia eisenii Brandegee
Bacopa eisenii (Kellogg) Pennell
Clarkia eiseniana Kellog
Ranunculus eiseni Kellog
Mosquitoes
Anopheles eiseni Coquillett
Ant
Atzeca foreleg eiseni Pergande
Bee
Anthidiellum eiseni PergaCockerell
Centris eisenii Fox
Mesostenus eisenii Ashmead
Grasshopper
Brachystola eiseni Bruner
Copepods
Diaptomus eiseni Liljeborg
Zygoptera
Enallagma eiseni Calvert
Tipulidae
Erioptera eiseni Alexander
Diptera
Hermetia eiseni Townsend
Zophina eiseni Townsend
Spider
Linyphia eiseni Banks
Pardosa eiseni Thorell
Snake
Tantilla eiseni Stejneger
Fish
Xenotoca eiseni Rutter
Publications
Eisen, G.A. 1888. On the anatomy of Sutroa rostrata, a new annelid of the sub-family Lumbriculina. Memoirs of the California Academy of Sciences 2(1):1–9.
Eisen, G.A. 1890. The raisin industry. A practical treatise on the raisin grapes, their history, culture and curing. Available online at https://archive.org/details/raisinindustrypr00eise.
Eisen, G.A. 1893. Anatomical studies on new species of Ocnerodrilus. Proceedings of the California Academy
of Sciences, ser. 2, 3:228–290.
Eisen, G.A. 1894. On California Eudrilidae. Memoirs of the California Academy of Sciences 2(3):21–62.
Eisen, G.A. 1895. Pacific Coast Oligochaeta I. Memoirs of the California Academy of Sciences 2(4):63–122.
Eisen, G.A. 1896. Pacific Coast Oligochaeta II. Memoirs of the California Academy of Sciences 2(5):123–200.
Eisen, G.A. 1897. Plasmocytes; the survival of the centrosomes and archoplasm of the nucleated erythrocytes, as free and independent elements in the blood of Batrachoseps attenuatus Esch. Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences, ser. 3, Zoology, 1(1):1–72.
Eisen, G.A. 1897. Explorations in the Cape Region of Baja California. Journal of the American Geographical Society of New York, Vol. 29, No. 3 (1897), pp. 271–280.
Eisen, G.A. 1899. Notes on North-American earthworms of the genus Diplocardia. Zoological Bulletin Vol. 2, No. 4, Feb., 1899 . https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2307/1535422
Eisen, G.A. 1900. Researches in American Oligochaeta, with especial reference to those of the Pacific coast and adjacent islands. Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences, ser. 3, Zoology, 2(2):85–276.
Eisen, G.A. 1900. Explorations in the Cape Region of Baja California. Journal of the American Geographical Society of New York. https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2307/197262
Eisen, G.A. 1900. The Spermatogenesis of Batrachoseps. Polymorphous spermatogonia, auxocytes, and spermatocytes. Journal of Morphology. DOI: 10.1002/jmor.1050170102.
Eisen, G. A. 1901. The fig: its history, culture, and curing, with a descriptive catalogue of the known varieties of figs. Available online here: https://archive.org/details/figitshistorycul00eise.
Eisen, G.A. 1903. The earthquake and volcanic eruption in Guatemala in 1902. Bulletin of the American Geographical Society. https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2307/197952.
References
Further reading
External links
1847 births
1940 deaths
American naturalists
American zoologists
American curators
People associated with the California Academy of Sciences
Uppsala University alumni
Scientists from the San Francisco Bay Area
19th-century Swedish zoologists
20th-century Swedish zoologists