Chester Arthur Arnold was an American

paleobotanist Paleobotany or palaeobotany, also known as paleophytology, is the branch of botany dealing with the recovery and identification of plant fossils from geological contexts, and their use for the biological reconstruction of past environments (pale ...

, born June 25, 1901, in

Leeton, Missouri Leeton is a city in southeast Johnson County, Missouri, United States. The population was 566 at the 2010 census. History Leeton was platted in 1895, and named after J. J. Lee, the original owner of the town site. A post office called Leeton ha ...

, and died on November 19, 1977.

Family, education and career

He was the son of farmers Elmer and Edith Arnold. Arnold's family moved to Ludlowville, New York, and he attended

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

with the intent to study

agriculture Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

. Interaction with Loren Petry, a Cornell professor studying

Devonian The Devonian ( ) is a period (geology), geologic period and system (stratigraphy), system of the Paleozoic era (geology), era during the Phanerozoic eon (geology), eon, spanning 60.3 million years from the end of the preceding Silurian per ...

plants of the region, lead to Arnold shifting his focus to

paleobotany Paleobotany or palaeobotany, also known as paleophytology, is the branch of botany dealing with the recovery and identification of plant fossils from geological contexts, and their use for the biological reconstruction of past environments ( pal ...

. He received his Bachelor of Science in 1924, his Ph.D. in 1929 with his

thesis A thesis (: theses), or dissertation (abbreviated diss.), is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings.International Standard ISO 7144: D ...

on Devonian megafloral paleobotany. He started working at the faculty of botany,

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

from 1928 and became curator of the collection of fossil plants in 1929. Arnold became a professor in 1947. He maintained close relations with researchers in India, being a friend of

Birbal Sahni Birbal Sahni FRS (14 November 1891 – 10 April 1949) was an Indian paleobotanist who studied the fossils of the Indian subcontinent. He also took an interest in geology and archaeology. He founded what is now the Birbal Sahni Institute of Pal ...

, of the

Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeobotany The Birbal Sahni institution of Palaeosciences (BSIP), formerly known as the Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeobotany, is an autonomous institution established by the Government of India under the Department of Science and Technology. The Birbal ...

and served his year in residence from 1958 to 1959 at the institute. Arnold was a member of many learned societies and was the author of the ''Introduction to Paleobotany'' published in 1947.

Research

Arnold did extensive research on the flora Paleozoic, Mesozoic and Tertiary of North America studying fossils from

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

Greenland Greenland is an autonomous territory in the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. It is by far the largest geographically of three constituent parts of the kingdom; the other two are metropolitan Denmark and the Faroe Islands. Citizens of Greenlan ...

. During his lifetime Arnold wrote approximately 121 publications, on subjects including the fossil conifers of

Princeton, British Columbia Princeton is a town municipality in the Similkameen Country, Similkameen region of southern British Columbia, Canada. The former mining and railway hub lies at the confluence of the Tulameen River, Tulameen into the Similkameen River, just east o ...

, to the extinct water-fern, '' Azolla primaeva''. He was honored with the ''Silver Medal'' from the Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeobotany in 1972, and the ''Distinguished Service Award'' from the Paleobotanical Section of the

Botanical Society of America The Botanical Society of America (BSA) represents professional and amateur botanists, researchers, educators and students in over 80 countries of the world. It functions as a United States nonprofit 501(c)(3) membership society. History The soc ...

. A number of fossil plants have been named in Arnold's honor including '' Koelruteria arnoldi'' and '' Pseudolarix arnoldi''.

Correspondence

Arnold interacted with a number of eminent profession and amateur paleobotanists across the western US. While collecting fossils with Alonzo W. Hancock in the

Clarno Formation John Day Fossil Beds National Monument is a National monument (United States), U.S. national monument in Wheeler County, Oregon, Wheeler and Grant County, Oregon, Grant counties in east-central Oregon. Located within the John Day River basin an ...

of Oregon in 1941, Arnold and Hancock recovered the most complete ''

Miomastodon ''Zygolophodon'' is an extinct genus of mammutid proboscidean that lived during the Miocene in Africa, Eurasia, and North America. Description As with other mammutids, the molars have a zygodont morphology. The fused front region of the lower ...

'' skull known to date.The Oregon History Project Alonzo Hancock entry
/ref> In 1952 Arnold was the supervisor for Herman F. Becker who extensively studied the Ruby Basin Flora of Montana. Among the may correspondents of Arnold was Wesley C. Wehr, who became Affiliate curator of Paleobotany at the

Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture The Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture (commonly as Burke Museum) is a natural history museum on the campus of the University of Washington, in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is administered by the UW College of Arts and Scien ...

in Seattle.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Arnold, Chester Arthur 1901 births 1977 deaths 20th-century American botanists American paleontologists Cornell University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences alumni Heads of universities and colleges in the United States University of Michigan faculty People from Johnson County, Missouri 20th-century American academics