William Petit Trowbridge

William Petit Trowbridge was a naturalist, collector, professor, and military engineer. His date of birth and date of death are variably listed. On the Smithsonian Institute website, they are listed as (1828-1892)[1][2] There appears to be perhaps a different William Petit Trowbridge, with a different place of birth and dates of birth and death.[3] According to the Smithsonian Institute website, Trowbridge is a native of Troy, New York.[2] Other web sites list his place of birth as Troy, Michigan.[4]

He was a Professor of Mathematics at University of Michigan from 1856 to 1857.[5] William Trowbridge made substantial contributions to the natural sciences.[2]

According to a report prepared in 1854 by Spencer Baird, Trowbridge's collections added "some fifty new fishes alone to the North American fauna."[2] Also in 1854, Charles Girard presented a paper, "Observations upon a collection of fishes made on the Pacific coast of the United States by Lieutenant W.P. Trowbridge, for the museum of the Smithsonian Institution."[2]

He entered military service at the age of 16 and graduated in 1848 from the United States Military Academy.[2] He had an impressive military career. He then served as vice-president of Novelty Iron Works in New York City starting in 1865. He also was a professor of dynamic engineering at Yale University. At Columbia University, he was an engineering professor from 1877 until his death in 1892. The Smithsonian website details many more achievements.[2]

Two Pacific coast fishes were named after William Trowbridge.[2] They are the surf-perch Helconotus trowbridgii (Girard, 1854) and the whiting Homalopomus trowbridgii, (Girard, 1856).[2] The first specimen of Trowbridge's Shrew was collected June 10, 1855, from Lt W P Trowbridge at Astoria, Oregon.[6]

References

  1. ↑ "Trowbridge, William Petit, 1828-1892". Retrieved December 20, 2014.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 "William Trowbridge, Ichthyology at the Smithsonian, 1850-1900". Retrieved December 20, 2014.
  3. ↑ http://www.trowbridgemountain.info/will_petit_trow.html
  4. ↑ "Gen William Petit Trowbridge (1828 - 1892) - Find A Grave Memorial". Retrieved December 20, 2014.
  5. ↑ "William Petit Trowbridge". Faculty History Project. Retrieved December 20, 2014.
  6. ↑ Baird, Spencer Fullerton, 1823-1887 (1860). Reports of explorations and surveys, to ascertain the most practicable and economical route for a railroad from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean. Washington, A.O.P. Nicholson, Printer [etc.] Retrieved 21 December 2014.

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