Eugene W. Hilgard
| Eugene W. Hilgard | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born | January 5, 1833 Zweibrücken, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany |
| Died | January 8, 1916 (aged 83) Berkeley, California, United States |
| Residence | United States |
| Fields | Soil Science |
| Institutions |
University of Mississippi University of Michigan University of California, Berkeley |
| Alma mater |
Royal Mining School University of Zurich University of Heidelberg |
| Doctoral advisor | Robert Bunsen |
Eugene Woldemar Hilgard (January 5, 1833, Zweibrücken, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany – January 8, 1916, Berkeley, California, United States) was a German-American expert on pedology (the study of soil resources). An authority on climate as a soil forming factor, soil chemistry and reclamation of alkali soils, he is considered the father of modern soil science in the United States.
Eugene Hilgard was born at Zweibrücken, 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.
...
Wikipedia