Eugene W. Hilgard
Encyclopedia
Eugene Woldemar Hilgard was a German
-American
expert on pedology
(the study of soil
resources). An authority on soil chemistry
and reclamation
of alkali soils, he is considered the father of modern soil science
in the USA.
, Germany
, January 5, 1833, the son of Theodore Erasmus
and Margaretha (Pauli) Hilgard. His father was a successful lawyer, holding the position of chief justice of the court of appeals of the province of Rhenish Bavaria. His liberally-minded father was displeased by the increasingly reactionary government of Ludwig I
, and, having secured a letter of recommendation from Lafayette
, he resolved to move his family to America. After a 14-day overland trip to Le Havre
, followed by a 62-day ocean voyage aboard the ship Marengo, the family arrived in New Orleans, Louisiana
, on Christmas Day
, 1835, then traveled up the Mississippi River
to St. Louis, Missouri
, finally settling on a farm
in Belleville, Illinois
. His father had chosen that particular area based on the writings of Gottfried Duden
, who had described the area as a sort of El Dorado
for German immigrants.
The youngest of nine children, Eugene received his early education under the tuition of his father. During an epidemic of typhoid fever
that killed his eldest sister, Eugene was stricken as well, and the resultant fevers and impaired eyesight plagued him for the next several years of his young adulthood. His mother died in 1842, leaving Eugene's care in the hands of his remaining sisters. He educated himself in the fields of botany
, chemistry
, and physics
, but his continued precarious health led doctors to suggest a change in climate, so in 1848 he traveled to Washington, D.C.
, with his eldest brother Julius
, who was returning to his job at the U.S. Coast Survey
.
Eugene spent four months in Washington, meeting through his brother such noted scientists as Joseph Henry
, Spencer Fullerton Baird
, and Alexander Dallas Bache
. That fall he went to Philadelphia to attend a variety of lectures, and during a visit to the laboratory of James Curtis Booth
at the Franklin Institute
, it was suggested that he return to Germany to study analytical chemistry
. He sailed from New York
in March 1849 aboard the steamship Hermann, bound for Bremen
and then to Heidelberg
to rejoin his brother Theodore, who had gone there in 1846 to study medicine.
and Theodor Ludwig Wilhelm Bischoff, but soon became disenchanted with the overall state of instruction at the university. During a summer trip with his brother Theodore to their native province, the turbulence of the Palatinate-Baden rebellion
forced the pair to seek safety in Speyer
, where their cousin was a government official. At his suggestion, they traveled to Switzerland
and enrolled at the University of Zurich
. Hilgard spent three semesters at Zurich, studying under notable professors such as Lorenz Oken
, Arnold Escher von der Linth
, and Carl Jacob Löwig
, the latter of whom appointed him as his laboratory and teaching assistant.
In 1850 he left Zurich for the Royal Mining School
in Freiberg
. Despite a productive period of study under Karl Friedrich Plattner
, a recurrence of his health problems, combined with two near-death experiences involving cyanide gas and mercury vapor
, led him to conclude he was not cut out for the hazardous world of mining and smelting. Hilgard returned to Heidelberg in 1851, where Robert Bunsen
had just succeeded Leopold Gmelin as the chair in chemistry. He soon decided to obtain a Ph.D. with Bunsen as his advisor. For his thesis, Hilgard investigated the constituent parts of a candle
flame, and was the first to identify four distinct parts and processes, as opposed to the three that had previously been supposed. He received his Ph.D. in 1853.
After graduation, he lived in Spain
and Portugal
for two years. While in Spain, he met his future wife, Jesusa Alexandrina Bello, the daughter of a colonel
in the Spanish Army
. He married her in 1860 during a subsequent visit to Spain.
Hilgard's father moved back to Germany in 1855, remarried his niece Marie Theveny, and died in Heidelberg in 1873.
of Mississippi
from 1855 to 1857; was chemist
in charge of the laboratory
of the Smithsonian Institution
, and Lecturer
on Chemistry in the National Medical College
(now part of George Washington University
), 1857-1858; State Geologist of Mississippi from 1858 to 1866, and Professor of Chemistry at the University of Mississippi
and State Geologist from 1866 to 1873. During the Civil War, Hilgard was appointed as the custodian of the University of Mississippi's buildings for the duration of the War. Under his custodianship, many of the university's buildings were used as hospitals for Union and Confederate soldiers. Some Sisters of Mercy from Vicksburg traveled to Oxford to serve as nurses in these makeshift hospitals.
In 1873 he accepted a call to the University of Michigan
, where he was Professor of Mineralogy
, Geology, Zoology
, and Botany
for two years. From 1875 to 1904 he was Professor of Agricultural Chemistry
at the University of California, Berkeley
and Director of the State Agricultural Experiment Station.
He conducted the agricultural division of the Northern Transcontinental Survey, 1881-1883, and made a specialty of the study of soils of the southwestern states and of the Pacific slope in their relation to Geology, to their chemical and physical composition, to their native flora
, and to their agricultural qualities. He was elected to a membership in the National Academy of Sciences
in 1872.
He published a report on the Agriculture and Geology of Mississippi (1860); on the Geology of Louisiana
and the Rock-salt Deposits of Petite Anse Island
(1869); reports on the Experimental Work of the College of Agriculture, University of California (1877-1898); Report on the Arid Regions of the Pacific Coast (1887); and monographs on Mississippi, Louisiana, and California
, in the Report on Cotton
Production of the United States Census
Report of 1880, which he edited. He prepared for the United States Weather Bureau in 1892 a discussion of the Relations of Climate
to Soils, which was translated into several European languages and gained for the author in 1894, from the Royal Bavarian Academy of Sciences, the Liebig medal for important advances in agricultural science. He also published numerous papers on chemical, geological, and agricultural subjects, in government reports, and in scientific journals both at home and abroad.
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
-American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
expert on pedology
Pedology (soil study)
Pedology is the study of soils in their natural environment. It is one of two main branches of soil science, the other being edaphology...
(the study of soil
Soil
Soil is a natural body consisting of layers of mineral constituents of variable thicknesses, which differ from the parent materials in their morphological, physical, chemical, and mineralogical characteristics...
resources). An authority on soil chemistry
Soil chemistry
Soil chemistry is the study of the chemical characteristics of soil. Soil chemistry is affected by mineral composition, organic matter and environmental factors.-History:...
and reclamation
Land reclamation
Land reclamation, usually known as reclamation, is the process to create new land from sea or riverbeds. The land reclaimed is known as reclamation ground or landfill.- Habitation :...
of alkali soils, he is considered the father of modern soil science
Soil science
Soil science is the study of soil as a natural resource on the surface of the earth including soil formation, classification and mapping; physical, chemical, biological, and fertility properties of soils; and these properties in relation to the use and management of soils.Sometimes terms which...
in the USA.
Early life
Eugene Hilgard was born at ZweibrückenZweibrücken
Zweibrücken is a city in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, on the Schwarzbach river.- Name :Zweibrücken appears in Latin texts as Geminus Pons and Bipontum, in French texts as Deux-Ponts. The name derives from Middle High German Zweinbrücken...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, January 5, 1833, the son of Theodore Erasmus
Theodore Erasmus Hilgard
Theodore Erasmus Hilgard was a lawyer, viticulturalist and Latin farmer.-Europe:He grew up during the Napoleonic Wars in a family very sympathetic to the principles of the French revolution. He studied at the Universities of Heidelberg , Göttingen and Paris , and took a legal course in Coblenz...
and Margaretha (Pauli) Hilgard. His father was a successful lawyer, holding the position of chief justice of the court of appeals of the province of Rhenish Bavaria. His liberally-minded father was displeased by the increasingly reactionary government of Ludwig I
Ludwig I of Bavaria
Ludwig I was a German king of Bavaria from 1825 until the 1848 revolutions in the German states.-Crown prince:...
, and, having secured a letter of recommendation from Lafayette
Gilbert du Motier, marquis de La Fayette
Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de La Fayette , often known as simply Lafayette, was a French aristocrat and military officer born in Chavaniac, in the province of Auvergne in south central France...
, he resolved to move his family to America. After a 14-day overland trip to Le Havre
Le Havre
Le Havre is a city in the Seine-Maritime department of the Haute-Normandie region in France. It is situated in north-western France, on the right bank of the mouth of the river Seine on the English Channel. Le Havre is the most populous commune in the Haute-Normandie region, although the total...
, followed by a 62-day ocean voyage aboard the ship Marengo, the family arrived in New Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans is a major United States port and the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana. The New Orleans metropolitan area has a population of 1,235,650 as of 2009, the 46th largest in the USA. The New Orleans – Metairie – Bogalusa combined statistical area has a population...
, on Christmas Day
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
, 1835, then traveled up the Mississippi River
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...
to St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
, finally settling on a farm
Farm
A farm is an area of land, or, for aquaculture, lake, river or sea, including various structures, devoted primarily to the practice of producing and managing food , fibres and, increasingly, fuel. It is the basic production facility in food production. Farms may be owned and operated by a single...
in Belleville, Illinois
Belleville, Illinois
Belleville is a city in St. Clair County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city has a population of 44,478. It is the eighth-most populated city outside of the Chicago Metropolitan Area and the most populated city south of Springfield in the state of Illinois. It is the county...
. His father had chosen that particular area based on the writings of Gottfried Duden
Gottfried Duden
Gottfried Duden was a German emigration writer of the early 19th century. His famous book Bericht über eine Reise nach den westlichen Staaten Nordamerika's gave romantic and glowing descriptions of the Missouri River valley between St. Louis and Hermann, Missouri...
, who had described the area as a sort of El Dorado
El Dorado
El Dorado is the name of a Muisca tribal chief who covered himself with gold dust and, as an initiation rite, dived into a highland lake.Later it became the name of a legendary "Lost City of Gold" that has fascinated – and so far eluded – explorers since the days of the Spanish Conquistadors...
for German immigrants.
The youngest of nine children, Eugene received his early education under the tuition of his father. During an epidemic of typhoid fever
Typhoid fever
Typhoid fever, also known as Typhoid, is a common worldwide bacterial disease, transmitted by the ingestion of food or water contaminated with the feces of an infected person, which contain the bacterium Salmonella enterica, serovar Typhi...
that killed his eldest sister, Eugene was stricken as well, and the resultant fevers and impaired eyesight plagued him for the next several years of his young adulthood. His mother died in 1842, leaving Eugene's care in the hands of his remaining sisters. He educated himself in the fields of botany
Botany
Botany, plant science, or plant biology is a branch of biology that involves the scientific study of plant life. Traditionally, botany also included the study of fungi, algae and viruses...
, chemistry
Chemistry
Chemistry is the science of matter, especially its chemical reactions, but also its composition, structure and properties. Chemistry is concerned with atoms and their interactions with other atoms, and particularly with the properties of chemical bonds....
, and physics
Physics
Physics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...
, but his continued precarious health led doctors to suggest a change in climate, so in 1848 he traveled to Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, with his eldest brother Julius
Julius Erasmus Hilgard
Julius Erasmus Hilgard was a German-American engineer.Julius Erasmus Hilgard was born at Zweibrücken, Rhenish Bavaria, January 7, 1825...
, who was returning to his job at the U.S. Coast Survey
U.S. National Geodetic Survey
National Geodetic Survey, formerly called the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey , is a United States federal agency that defines and manages a national coordinate system, providing the foundation for transportation and communication; mapping and charting; and a large number of applications of science...
.
Eugene spent four months in Washington, meeting through his brother such noted scientists as Joseph Henry
Joseph Henry
Joseph Henry was an American scientist who served as the first Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, as well as a founding member of the National Institute for the Promotion of Science, a precursor of the Smithsonian Institution. During his lifetime, he was highly regarded...
, Spencer Fullerton Baird
Spencer Fullerton Baird
Spencer Fullerton Baird was an American ornithologist, ichthyologist and herpetologist. Starting in 1850 he was assistant-secretary and later secretary of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C...
, and Alexander Dallas Bache
Alexander Dallas Bache
Alexander Dallas Bache was an American physicist, scientist and surveyor who erected coastal fortifications and conducted a detailed survey mapping of the United States coastline.-Biography:...
. That fall he went to Philadelphia to attend a variety of lectures, and during a visit to the laboratory of James Curtis Booth
James Curtis Booth
James Curtis Booth was a United States chemist who was the melter and refiner at the U.S. Mint in Philadelphia for many years.-Life:Booth was born in Philadelphia on 28 July 1810, and was educated at the Hartsville Seminary....
at the Franklin Institute
Franklin Institute
The Franklin Institute is a museum in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and one of the oldest centers of science education and development in the United States, dating to 1824. The Institute also houses the Benjamin Franklin National Memorial.-History:On February 5, 1824, Samuel Vaughn Merrick and...
, it was suggested that he return to Germany to study analytical chemistry
Analytical chemistry
Analytical chemistry is the study of the separation, identification, and quantification of the chemical components of natural and artificial materials. Qualitative analysis gives an indication of the identity of the chemical species in the sample and quantitative analysis determines the amount of...
. He sailed from New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
in March 1849 aboard the steamship Hermann, bound for Bremen
Bremen
The City Municipality of Bremen is a Hanseatic city in northwestern Germany. A commercial and industrial city with a major port on the river Weser, Bremen is part of the Bremen-Oldenburg metropolitan area . Bremen is the second most populous city in North Germany and tenth in Germany.Bremen is...
and then to Heidelberg
Heidelberg
-Early history:Between 600,000 and 200,000 years ago, "Heidelberg Man" died at nearby Mauer. His jaw bone was discovered in 1907; with scientific dating, his remains were determined to be the earliest evidence of human life in Europe. In the 5th century BC, a Celtic fortress of refuge and place of...
to rejoin his brother Theodore, who had gone there in 1846 to study medicine.
Education in Europe
At the University of Heidelberg, he began study under Leopold GmelinLeopold Gmelin
Leopold Gmelin was a German chemist.Gmelin was the son of Johann Friedrich Gmelin. He studied medicine and chemistry at Göttingen, Tübingen and Vienna, and in 1813 began to lecture on chemistry at Heidelberg, where in 1814 he was appointed extraordinary-, and in 1817 ordinary-, professor of...
and Theodor Ludwig Wilhelm Bischoff, but soon became disenchanted with the overall state of instruction at the university. During a summer trip with his brother Theodore to their native province, the turbulence of the Palatinate-Baden rebellion
Revolutions of 1848 in the German states
The Revolutions of 1848 in the German states, also called the March Revolution – part of the Revolutions of 1848 that broke out in many countries of Europe – were a series of loosely coordinated protests and rebellions in the states of the German Confederation, including the Austrian Empire...
forced the pair to seek safety in Speyer
Speyer
Speyer is a city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany with approximately 50,000 inhabitants. Located beside the river Rhine, Speyer is 25 km south of Ludwigshafen and Mannheim. Founded by the Romans, it is one of Germany's oldest cities...
, where their cousin was a government official. At his suggestion, they traveled to Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
and enrolled at the University of Zurich
University of Zurich
The University of Zurich , located in the city of Zurich, is the largest university in Switzerland, with over 25,000 students. It was founded in 1833 from the existing colleges of theology, law, medicine and a new faculty of philosophy....
. Hilgard spent three semesters at Zurich, studying under notable professors such as Lorenz Oken
Lorenz Oken
Lorenz Oken was a German naturalist.Oken was born Lorenz Okenfuss in Bohlsbach in Baden and studied natural history and medicine at the universities of Freiburg and Würzburg. He went on to the University of Göttingen, where he became a Privatdozent , and shortened his name to Oken...
, Arnold Escher von der Linth
Arnold Escher von der Linth
Arnold Escher von der Linth was a Swiss geologist, the son of Hans Conrad Escher von der Linth ....
, and Carl Jacob Löwig
Carl Jacob Löwig
Carl Jacob Löwig was a German chemist and discovered bromine independently of Antoine Jérôme Balard.He received his PhD at the University of Heidelberg for his work with Leopold Gmelin....
, the latter of whom appointed him as his laboratory and teaching assistant.
In 1850 he left Zurich for the Royal Mining School
Freiberg University of Mining and Technology
The Technische Universität Bergakademie Freiberg is a small German University of Technology with about 5000 students in the city of Freiberg, Saxony...
in Freiberg
Freiberg, Saxony
Freiberg is a city in the Free State of Saxony, Germany, administrative center of the Mittelsachsen district.-History:The city was founded in 1186, and has been a center of the mining industry in the Ore Mountains for centuries...
. Despite a productive period of study under Karl Friedrich Plattner
Karl Friedrich Plattner
Karl Friedrich Plattner was a German metallurgical chemist.He was born at Kleinwaltersdorf, near Freiberg in the Electorate of Saxony, on 2 January 1800. His father, though only a poor working miner, found the means to have him educated first at the Bergschule and then at the Bergakademie of...
, a recurrence of his health problems, combined with two near-death experiences involving cyanide gas and mercury vapor
Mercury (element)
Mercury is a chemical element with the symbol Hg and atomic number 80. It is also known as quicksilver or hydrargyrum...
, led him to conclude he was not cut out for the hazardous world of mining and smelting. Hilgard returned to Heidelberg in 1851, where Robert Bunsen
Robert Bunsen
Robert Wilhelm Eberhard Bunsen was a German chemist. He investigated emission spectra of heated elements, and discovered caesium and rubidium with Gustav Kirchhoff. Bunsen developed several gas-analytical methods, was a pioneer in photochemistry, and did early work in the field of organoarsenic...
had just succeeded Leopold Gmelin as the chair in chemistry. He soon decided to obtain a Ph.D. with Bunsen as his advisor. For his thesis, Hilgard investigated the constituent parts of a candle
Candle
A candle is a solid block or cylinder of wax with an embedded wick, which is lit to provide light, and sometimes heat.Today, most candles are made from paraffin. Candles can also be made from beeswax, soy, other plant waxes, and tallow...
flame, and was the first to identify four distinct parts and processes, as opposed to the three that had previously been supposed. He received his Ph.D. in 1853.
After graduation, he lived in Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
and Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
for two years. While in Spain, he met his future wife, Jesusa Alexandrina Bello, the daughter of a colonel
Colonel
Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...
in the Spanish Army
Spanish Army
The Spanish Army is the terrestrial army of the Spanish Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is one of the oldest active armies - dating back to the 15th century.-Introduction:...
. He married her in 1860 during a subsequent visit to Spain.
Hilgard's father moved back to Germany in 1855, remarried his niece Marie Theveny, and died in Heidelberg in 1873.
Professional career
Returning to America, he served as Assistant State GeologistGeologist
A geologist is a scientist who studies the solid and liquid matter that constitutes the Earth as well as the processes and history that has shaped it. Geologists usually engage in studying geology. Geologists, studying more of an applied science than a theoretical one, must approach Geology using...
of Mississippi
Mississippi
Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...
from 1855 to 1857; was chemist
Chemist
A chemist is a scientist trained in the study of chemistry. Chemists study the composition of matter and its properties such as density and acidity. Chemists carefully describe the properties they study in terms of quantities, with detail on the level of molecules and their component atoms...
in charge of the laboratory
Laboratory
A laboratory is a facility that provides controlled conditions in which scientific research, experiments, and measurement may be performed. The title of laboratory is also used for certain other facilities where the processes or equipment used are similar to those in scientific laboratories...
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...
, and Lecturer
Lecturer
Lecturer is an academic rank. In the United Kingdom, lecturer is a position at a university or similar institution, often held by academics in their early career stages, who lead research groups and supervise research students, as well as teach...
on Chemistry in the National Medical College
George Washington University Medical School
The George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences was established in 1824 due to the need for doctors in the District of Columbia but formally opened its doors a year later in 1825. It is the eleventh oldest medical school in the country and the first medical school...
(now part of George Washington University
George Washington University
The George Washington University is a private, coeducational comprehensive university located in Washington, D.C. in the United States...
), 1857-1858; State Geologist of Mississippi from 1858 to 1866, and Professor of Chemistry at the University of Mississippi
University of Mississippi
The University of Mississippi, also known as Ole Miss, is a public, coeducational research university located in Oxford, Mississippi. Founded in 1844, the school is composed of the main campus in Oxford, four branch campuses located in Booneville, Grenada, Tupelo, and Southaven as well as the...
and State Geologist from 1866 to 1873. During the Civil War, Hilgard was appointed as the custodian of the University of Mississippi's buildings for the duration of the War. Under his custodianship, many of the university's buildings were used as hospitals for Union and Confederate soldiers. Some Sisters of Mercy from Vicksburg traveled to Oxford to serve as nurses in these makeshift hospitals.
In 1873 he accepted a call to the University of Michigan
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...
, where he was Professor of Mineralogy
Mineralogy
Mineralogy is the study of chemistry, crystal structure, and physical properties of minerals. Specific studies within mineralogy include the processes of mineral origin and formation, classification of minerals, their geographical distribution, as well as their utilization.-History:Early writing...
, Geology, Zoology
Zoology
Zoology |zoölogy]]), is the branch of biology that relates to the animal kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinct...
, and Botany
Botany
Botany, plant science, or plant biology is a branch of biology that involves the scientific study of plant life. Traditionally, botany also included the study of fungi, algae and viruses...
for two years. From 1875 to 1904 he was Professor of Agricultural Chemistry
Agricultural chemistry
Agricultural chemistry is the study of both chemistry and biochemistry which are important in agricultural production, the processing of raw products into foods and beverages, and in environmental monitoring and remediation...
at the University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
and Director of the State Agricultural Experiment Station.
He conducted the agricultural division of the Northern Transcontinental Survey, 1881-1883, and made a specialty of the study of soils of the southwestern states and of the Pacific slope in their relation to Geology, to their chemical and physical composition, to their native flora
Flora
Flora is the plant life occurring in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring or indigenous—native plant life. The corresponding term for animals is fauna.-Etymology:...
, and to their agricultural qualities. He was elected to a membership in the National Academy of Sciences
United States National Academy of Sciences
The National Academy of Sciences is a corporation in the United States whose members serve pro bono as "advisers to the nation on science, engineering, and medicine." As a national academy, new members of the organization are elected annually by current members, based on their distinguished and...
in 1872.
He published a report on the Agriculture and Geology of Mississippi (1860); on the Geology of Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
and the Rock-salt Deposits of Petite Anse Island
Avery Island, Louisiana
Avery Island is a salt dome best known as the source of Tabasco sauce. Located in Iberia Parish, Louisiana, United States, it is about three miles inland from Vermilion Bay, which in turn opens onto the Gulf of Mexico...
(1869); reports on the Experimental Work of the College of Agriculture, University of California (1877-1898); Report on the Arid Regions of the Pacific Coast (1887); and monographs on Mississippi, Louisiana, and California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, in the Report on Cotton
Cotton
Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective capsule, around the seeds of cotton plants of the genus Gossypium. The fiber is almost pure cellulose. The botanical purpose of cotton fiber is to aid in seed dispersal....
Production of the United States Census
United States Census
The United States Census is a decennial census mandated by the United States Constitution. The population is enumerated every 10 years and the results are used to allocate Congressional seats , electoral votes, and government program funding. The United States Census Bureau The United States Census...
Report of 1880, which he edited. He prepared for the United States Weather Bureau in 1892 a discussion of the Relations of Climate
Climate
Climate encompasses the statistics of temperature, humidity, atmospheric pressure, wind, rainfall, atmospheric particle count and other meteorological elemental measurements in a given region over long periods...
to Soils, which was translated into several European languages and gained for the author in 1894, from the Royal Bavarian Academy of Sciences, the Liebig medal for important advances in agricultural science. He also published numerous papers on chemical, geological, and agricultural subjects, in government reports, and in scientific journals both at home and abroad.
Commemoration and honors
- Hilgard Hall on the University of California, Berkeley campusUniversity of California, Berkeley Campus ArchitectureThe University of California, Berkeley campus and its surrounding community are home to a number of notable buildings by early 20th-century campus architect John Galen Howard, his peer Bernard Maybeck , and Maybeck's student Julia Morgan...
- Streets named after him in Berkeley and Los Angeles
- The mineral hilgarditeHilgarditeHilgardite is a borate mineral with the chemical formula Ca2B5O9Cl·H2O. It is transparent and has vitreous luster. It is colorless to light pink with a white streak. It is rated 5 on the Mohs Scale....
- The U.S. Liberty shipLiberty shipLiberty ships were cargo ships built in the United States during World War II. Though British in conception, they were adapted by the U.S. as they were cheap and quick to build, and came to symbolize U.S. wartime industrial output. Based on vessels ordered by Britain to replace ships torpedoed by...
SS Eugene W. Hilgard - Hilgard received the degree of Doctor of Laws from the University of Mississippi in 1882, from the University of Michigan in 1887, and from Columbia UniversityColumbia UniversityColumbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
in 1887. - In 1903, the University of Heidelberg reconferred the title of Doctor of Philosophy after fifty years, in recognition of the scientific work accomplished since the doctorate was first conferred in 1853.
- Hilgard, OregonHilgard, OregonHilgard is an unincorporated community in Union County, Oregon, United States, at the junction of Oregon Route 244 with Interstate 84/U.S. Route 30, near the Grande Ronde River. It is also the site of a junction of the Union Pacific Railroad...
Publications
- (1860) Report on the geology and agriculture of the State of Mississippi
- (1884) Report on the Physical and Agricultural Features of the State of California, with a discussion of the present and future of cotton production in the state.
- (1885) The Phylloxera at Berkeley
- (1906) Soils, Their Formation, Properties, Composition, and Relations to Climate and Plant Growth in the Humid and Arid Regions
External links
- The E. W. Hilgard Collection (MUM00569) can be found at the University of Mississippi, Archive and Special Collections.