Some Biogeographers, Evolutionists and Ecologists:
Chrono-Biographical Sketches



Goldman, Edward Alphonso (United States 1873-1946)
mammalogy, field biology


Photo courtesy Washington Biologists' Field Club

Goldman's work focused on the birds and mammals of North America. One of the turn of the century's great field biologists, he is said to have added over 30,000 specimens of Mexican animals alone to the Biological Survey's collection. In addition, he described more than three hundred new forms of mammals; over fifty species and subspecies are named after him (as is Goldman Peak, in Baja California). He was also both an excellent photographer and an excellent writer, publishing more than two hundred books and papers, in both technical and popular styles. In the 1930s he became involved in the development of protective legislation for Mexican mammals and migrating birds.

Life Chronology

--born in Mount Carmel, Illinois, on 7 July 1873.
--1888: the Goldman family moves to Tulare County, California
--1891: hired as field assistant to Edward William Nelson
--1892: appointed as assistant field agent by the Bureau of Biological Survey (USBS)
--1892-1906: participates in biological survey investigations in Mexico for the USBS
--1910: publishes his Revision of the Wood Rats of the Genus Neotoma
--1911-1912: participates in biological survey of Panama
--1913-1917: participates in biological survey of Arizona for the USBS
--1918: appointed a major in the Sanitary Corps, U.S. Army; serves in France
--1919-1925: chief, Division of Biological Investigations, USBS
--1920: publishes his Mammals of Panama
--1922-1937: major, Sanitary Reserve Corps, U.S. Army
--1925-1928: chief, Division of Game and Bird Reservations, USBS
--1927-1929: president, Biological Society of Washington
--1928-1943: senior biologist, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
--1936: assists in diplomacy efforts between U.S. and Mexico over bird protection
--1943-1946: associate in zoology, Smithsonian Institution
--1944: publishes his The Wolves of North America, with Stanley P. Young
--1946: president, American Society of Mammalogists
--dies at Washington, D.C., on 2 September 1946.
--1946: posthumously publishes The Puma, Mysterious American Cat, with Stanley P. Young

For Additional Information, See:

--Journal of Mammalogy, Vol. 28(2) (1947): 91-114.
--The Auk, Vol. 64(3) (1947): 503.
--Biographical Dictionary of American and Canadian Naturalists and Environmentalists (1997).


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Copyright 2005 by Charles H. Smith. All rights reserved.
http://people.wku.edu/charles.smith/chronob/GOLD1873.htm

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