Henry Bryant Bigelow (October 3, 1879 – December 11, 1967) was an American oceanographer and

marine biologist Marine biology is the scientific study of the biology of marine life, organisms that inhabit the sea. Given that in biology many phyla, families and genera have some species that live in the sea and others that live on land, marine biology clas ...

. He was a professor at

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

for 60 years and was the founding director of the

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI, acronym pronounced ) is a private, nonprofit research and higher education facility dedicated to the study of marine science and engineering. Established in 1930 in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, it i ...

. The U.S. research vessel ''NOAAS Henry B. Bigelow'' was named in his honor.

Life and career

He was the grandson of Henry Bryant who was an American

physician A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the Medical education, study, Med ...

and

naturalist Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...

. After graduating from

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher lear ...

in 1901, he began working with famed ichthyologist

Alexander Agassiz Alexander Emmanuel Rodolphe Agassiz (December 17, 1835March 27, 1910), son of Louis Agassiz and stepson of Elizabeth Cabot Agassiz, was an American scientist and engineer. Biography Agassiz was born in Neuchâtel, Switzerland, and immigrated t ...

. Bigelow accompanied Agassiz on several major marine science expeditions including one aboard the ''

Albatross Albatrosses, of the biological family Diomedeidae, are large seabirds related to the procellariids, storm petrels, and diving petrels in the order Procellariiformes (the tubenoses). They range widely in the Southern Ocean and the North Paci ...

'' in 1907. He began working at the

Museum of Comparative Zoology The Museum of Comparative Zoology (formally the Agassiz Museum of Comparative Zoology and often abbreviated to MCZ) is a zoology museum located on the grounds of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It is one of three natural-history r ...

in 1905 and joined Harvard's faculty in 1906 where he worked for 62 years. In 1911, Bigelow was elected a Fellow of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other ...

. He helped found the

in 1930 and was its founding director. He was elected to the United States

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, NGO, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the ...

in 1931 and the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS) is an American scholarly organization and learned society founded in 1743 in Philadelphia that promotes knowledge in the humanities and natural sciences through research, professional meetings, publicat ...

in 1937. During his life he published more than one hundred papers and several books. He was an expert on coelenterates and

elasmobranch Elasmobranchii () is a subclass of Chondrichthyes or cartilaginous fish, including modern sharks ( division Selachii), and batomorphs (division Batomorphi, including rays, skates, and sawfish). Members of this subclass are characterised by h ...

s. In 1948 Bigelow was awarded the

Daniel Giraud Elliot Medal The Daniel Giraud Elliot Medal is awarded by the U.S. National Academy of Sciences "for meritorious work in zoology or paleontology study published in a three to five year period." Named after Daniel Giraud Elliot, it was first awarded in 1917. L ...

from the

Honors

The Henry Bryant Bigelow Medal in Oceanography is awarded by the

to honor "those who make significant inquiries into the phenomena of the sea". Bigelow was the first recipient of the medal in 1960. He was honored by the naming of the

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA ) is an American scientific and regulatory agency charged with Weather forecasting, forecasting weather, monitoring oceanic and atmospheric conditions, Hydrography, charting the seas, ...

research vessel A research vessel (RV or R/V) is a ship or boat designed, modified, or equipped to carry out research at sea. Research vessels carry out a number of roles. Some of these roles can be combined into a single vessel but others require a dedicated ...

NOAAS ''Henry B. Bigelow'' (R 225).

Legacy

First published in 1953, Bigelow's ''Fishes of the Gulf of Maine'' (with William C. Schroeder) continued to be a useful reference for the fishing and scientific communities for 50 years. The

Smithsonian Institution Press The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums, Education center, education and Research institute, research centers, created by the Federal government of the United States, U.S. government "for the increase a ...

published a heavily revised third edition in 2002.

Descriptions

Bigelow described numerous new species to science, 110 of which are recognized today according to the

World Register of Marine Species The World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS) is a taxonomic database that aims to provide an authoritative and comprehensive catalogue and list of names of marine organisms. Content The content of the registry is edited and maintained by scien ...

. See :Taxa named by Henry Bryant Bigelow.

Species named for Bigelow

Some 26 species and two genera ('' Bigelowina'', stomatopods in family Nannosquillidae, and '' Bigelowiella'',

protist A protist ( ) or protoctist is any eukaryotic organism that is not an animal, land plant, or fungus. Protists do not form a natural group, or clade, but are a paraphyletic grouping of all descendants of the last eukaryotic common ancest ...

s in family Chlorarachniophyte) are named after him, including Bigelow's ray, '' Rajella bigelowi'', and '' Etmopterus bigelowi'', a lantern shark.

References

External links

Bigelow Laboratory
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bigelow, Henry Bryant 1879 births 1967 deaths 20th-century American zoologists American ichthyologists American marine biologists American oceanographers American taxonomists Cnidariologists Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Harvard University alumni Harvard University faculty Members of the American Philosophical Society Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Scientists from Boston