william cooper (1798â1864) was an american naturalist, conchologist and collector. cooper studied zoology in europe from 1821 to 1824, and afterwards travelled to nova scotia, kentucky and the bahamas collecting specimens. although he was not an author himself his specimens were of great help to others, such as john james audubon, charles lucien bonaparte and thomas nuttall. bonaparte named the cooper's hawk for him, after cooper collected a specimen of it in 1828. he was one of the founders of the new york lyceum of natural history (later the new york academy of sciences), and the first american member of the zoological society of london. he was father of james graham cooper (1830â1902) a physician and famous naturalist in his own right.   == references ==  *   
1798_births 1864_deaths Botanists_with_author_abbreviations Conchologists Fellows_of_the_Zoological_Society_of_London Zoologists_with_author_abbreviations