death_date death_place birth_place nationality birth_date image article_title name occupation
17 may 1911 boston , massachusetts boston , massachusetts american 13 april 1837 samuel hubbard scudder 1837-1911 . jpg samuel hubbard scudder
 samuel hubbard scudder entomologist palaeontologist
samuel hubbard scudder

samuel hubbard scudder -lrb- april 13 , 1837 -- may 17 , 1911 -rrb- was an american entomologist and palaeontologist .
born in boston , massachusetts , scudder may be most widely known for his essay on the importance of first-hand , careful observation in the natural sciences .
the treatise on inductive reasoning , entitled `` the student , the fish , and agassiz '' , reflects his initial experience , learning really to `` see '' , under the tutelage of louis agassiz at harvard university .
he graduated at williams college in 1857 and at harvard university in 1862 , was a leading figure in american entomology from 1858 , and the first north american insect palaeontologist .
he also undertook systematic work with lepidoptera -lrb- almost exclusively butterflies -rrb- , orthoptera , mantodea and blattodea and fossil arthropods , including the exquisitely preserved butterfly `` prodryas persephone '' .
a student of mark hopkins at williams college and of louis agassiz at harvard university , scudder was a prolific writer , publishing 791 papers between 1858 and 1902 , on insect biogeography and paleobiogeography , insect behavior , ontogeny and phylogeny , insect songs , trace fossils , evolution , insect biology and economic entomology .
he also wrote on ethnology , general geology , and geography .
his masterwork of fossil terrestrial arthropod research was the two-volume set `` fossil insects of north america : the pre-tertiary insects '' -lrb- 1890 -rrb- -lrb- a collection of his previous papers on paleozoic and mesozoic insects -rrb- and `` the tertiary insects of north america '' -lrb- 1890 -rrb- .
he also published comprehensive reviews of the then-known fossil cockroaches of the world -lrb- 1879 -rrb- , carboniferous cockroaches of the united states -lrb- 1890 , 1895 -rrb- , and fossil terrestrial arthropods of the world -lrb- 1886 , 1891 -rrb- .
scudder 's `` nomenclator zoologicus '' -lrb- 1882 -- 1884 -rrb- was a seminal and comprehensive list of all generic and family names in zoology , including insects .
in other contributions scudder was successively curator , librarian , custodian , and president of the boston society of natural history -lrb- 1864 -- 1870 , 1880 -- 1887 -rrb- ; co-founder of the cambridge entomological club and its journal `` psyche '' -lrb- 1874 -rrb- ; general secretary of the american association for the advancement of science -lrb- 1875 -rrb- -lrb- vice-president -lrb- 1894 -rrb- . -rrb-
; cofounder , editor and guide of the appalachian mountain club -lrb- 1878 -rrb- ; first editor of `` science '' magazine -lrb- 1883 -- 1885 -rrb- ; and united states geological survey paleontologist -lrb- 1886 -- 1892 -rrb- among lesser endeavors .
scudder died in boston on may 17 , 1911 .
