Asa Fitch
Encyclopedia
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| Asa Fitch | |
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| Birth Date | February 24, 1809; Salem, NY Salem, New York Salem, New York is the name of two locations in Washington County, New York in the USA:* Salem , New York* Salem , New York... |
| Death Date | April 8, 1879; Salem, NY Salem, New York Salem, New York is the name of two locations in Washington County, New York in the USA:* Salem , New York* Salem , New York... |
| Speciality | Entomology Entomology Entomology is the scientific study of insects, a branch of arthropodology... |
| Affiliations | New York State Agricultural Society; RPI Alumni Hall of Fame inducted October,1999 |
| Education | Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Stephen Van Rensselaer established the Rensselaer School on November 5, 1824 with a letter to the Rev. Dr. Samuel Blatchford, in which van Rensselaer asked Blatchford to serve as the first president. Within the letter he set down several orders of business. He appointed Amos Eaton as the school's... : Class of 1827 |
- For the member of the 12th Congress, see Asa Fitch (Representative)Asa Fitch (Representative)Asa Fitch was a U.S. representative from New York from 1811 to 1813.He was born in Groton, Connecticut. He studied medicine and became a physician practicing in Duanesburg and Salem, New York....
Dr. Asa Fitch (February 24, 1809 – April 8, 1879. His early studies were of both natural history and medicine, which he studied at the newly formed Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Stephen Van Rensselaer established the Rensselaer School on November 5, 1824 with a letter to the Rev. Dr. Samuel Blatchford, in which van Rensselaer asked Blatchford to serve as the first president. Within the letter he set down several orders of business. He appointed Amos Eaton as the school's...
, graduating in 1827. However, in 1838 he decided to start studying agriculture
Agriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
and entomology
Entomology
Entomology is the scientific study of insects, a branch of arthropodology...
. In 1838 he began to collect and study insects for New York state. In 1854 he became the first professional entomologist of New York State Agricultural Society (commissioned by the State of New York). This made him the first occupational entomologist in the United States.
His vast studies of many insects helped scientists to solve some of the problems of crop damage caused by insects. Many of his notebooks are now the property of the Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its retail operations, concessions, licensing activities, and magazines...
. Fitch also discovered the Rodent Botfly
Botfly
A botfly is any fly in the family Oestridae, which includes all the members of the former families Cuterebridae, Gasterophilidae, and Hypodermatidae. It is the only family of flies whose larvae live as obligate parasites within the bodies of mammals, with the exception of a few screwworm flies in...
Cuterebra emasculator in 1856. He died April 8, 1879 in Salem, New York
Salem, New York
Salem, New York is the name of two locations in Washington County, New York in the USA:* Salem , New York* Salem , New York...
.