Gerardus Troost
Born(1776-03-05)March 5, 1776
's-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands
DiedAugust 14, 1850(1850-08-14) (aged 74)
Nashville, Tennessee, US
NationalityAmerican-Dutch
Scientific career
FieldsMineralogy, biology

Gerardus Troost (March 5, 1776 – August 14, 1850) was a Dutch-American medical doctor, naturalist, mineralogist, and founding member and first president of the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences.[1]

Biography

Troost was born in Den Bosch, Netherlands, to Anna Cornelia (Van Heeck) and Everardus Josephus Troost, and the older brother of Benoist Troost.[2] He received the degree of Doctor of Medicine from the University of Leyden, and of Master in Pharmacy, in 1801, from the University of Amsterdam. After a brief practice at Amsterdam and the Hague, he was enlisted in the army as a private soldier, and then as an officer of the first class in the medical department. During these periods of service, he was wounded in the thigh and in the head.[1]

In 1807, Troost went to Paris under the patronage of Louis Napoleon, King of Holland. There he studied at the School of Mines with renowned mineralogist René Just Haüy. While in Paris, he translated into the Dutch language one of the earlier works of Alexander von Humboldt, The Aspects of Nature. This service brought him the cordial thanks of the author, with whom he maintained a friendly correspondence to the last.[1]

In 1810, he settled in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. While there, he lectured on chemistry and mineralogy and made a geological survey of the area surrounding the city. Doctor Troost served five years as president of the Philadelphia Academy of Sciences.[3] In 1816, Troost was elected as a member of the American Philosophical Society.[4]

Drawing of Troost from a 1909 publication

In 1825, he joined the New Harmony experiment, in New Harmony, Indiana, with Thomas Say. In 1827, he moved to Nashville, Tennessee, where he became a professor of mineralogy and chemistry at the University of Nashville. From 1831 until 1850, he served as the State Geologist of Tennessee. While there he sent animal specimens to John Edwards Holbrook. His most enduring contribution to science was his method of doing geological surveys, which was carried on by David Dale Owen, son of Robert Owen, who went on to do several surveys of the American northwest.[1]

Troost died in Nashville in August 1850 from cholera, which was epidemic in that city.[5]

Work and legacy

Troost is credited with describing, as new species, two North American reptiles: the alligator snapping turtle (Macrochelys temminckii) and the western cottonmouth (Agkistrodon piscivorus leucostoma). He is honored by having a subspecies of turtle named after him, the Cumberland turtle (Trachemys scripta troostii).[6][7] The reddish-colored crystals of a variety of willemite found in New Jersey are known as troostite.[8]

In 1866, Dr. Benjamin F. Shumard named a genus of fossil blastoids Troosticrinus in his honor.[9]

In 1909, Elvira Wood edited and published Troost's unpublished monograph on the crinoids of Tennessee (1850).[10] This brought Troost's previously unknown work back into geological and paleontological discourse.

References

Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: Bonnier Corporation (June 1894). Popular Science. Bonnier Corporation.

  1. ^ a b c d Bonnier Corporation (June 1894). "Popular Science". The Popular Science Monthly. Bonnier Corporation: 258–. ISSN 0161-7370. Retrieved 28 March 2012.; archive.org copies [1] [2]
  2. ^ Euston, Diane (31 July 2022). "DR. BENOIST TROOST: BEYOND THE STREET WHICH BEARS HIS NAME. . . FOR NOW". Martin City Telegraph.
  3. ^ Wood, Elvira (May 8, 1909). "A Critical Summary of Troost's Unpublished Manuscript on the Crinoids of Tennessee". Bulletin of the United States National Museum (64): 1-xi, 1–150, 16 pls. (page v). doi:10.5479/si.03629236.64.1. hdl:10088/10246.
  4. ^ "APS Member History". search.amphilsoc.org. Retrieved 2021-04-02.
  5. ^ Wilson, Wendell E. (2014). "Gerard Troost (1776-1850)". Mineralogical Record Biographical Archive. Archived from the original on 2014-03-29. Retrieved 2014-03-28.
  6. ^ Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5. ("Troost", p. 268).
  7. ^ Beltz, Ellin (2006). Biographies of People Honored in the Herpetological Nomenclature of North America. Ebeltz.net. Retrieved on 2012-03-28.
  8. ^ New Harmony Scientists, Educators, Writers & Artists: Gerard Troost. Faculty.evansville.edu. Retrieved on 2012-03-28.
  9. ^ Shumard, Benjamin (1866). "A Catalogue of the Paleozoic Fossils of North America". The Transactions of the Academy of Science of St. Louis. II. 1861-1868. George Knapp & Co., Printers and Binders: 384 footnote.
  10. ^ Wood, Elvira (1909). A critical summary of Troost's unpublished manuscript on the crinoids of Tennessee. Washington, D. C.: Smithsonian Museum; Government Printing Office. OCLC 985731050.

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