Baird, SF

Full Name: Spencer Fullerton Baird

Achievements: Under his direction, the Smithsonian Institution flourished.

Born: February 3, 1823, Reading, PA

Died: August 19, 1887, Woods Hole, MA.  Age 64

Field & Discipline: Science; Zoology; Scientific Administrator

Language: English

Father: Samuel Baird

Mother: Lydia MacFunn Biddle

Siblings: Six

Spouse: Mary Helen Churchill

Children: Lucy Hunter

Education: Quaker School, Maryland; Reading Grammar School; Dickinson College, Pennsylvania

Major Work:

"Mammals of North America"

Life & Times:

On an outing as a young man, Baird came across a bird he could not recognize, and wrote to ornithologist/artist [collaborated with] Audubon*, who confirmed it was an unidentified species (a yellow-bellied flycatcher).  Audubon asked Baird to collect specimens for him and invited him along on one of his own collecting expeditions.  In 1843, Baird published his discovery of the flycatcher in the "Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia".

Deciding to study zoology, Baird started a course of self-instruction because little professional training was available.  His efforts were rewarded in 1845 when he was appointed professor of natural history at Dickinson College, in Pennsylvania, where he taught zoology, physiology, chemistry and mathematics.  His work in systematic zoology and revision of the four-volume "Encyclopaedia of Science, Literature and Arts" earned him high praise.

In 1846 Baird won the position of Assistant Secretary at the new Smithsonian Institution, but had to wait four years until the building was finished before he could assume the post.  He brought with him the equivalent of two railway cars of specimens, which formed the nucleus of the Smithsonian collections.

Baird added to the zoological and anthropological collections of the Smithsonian's National Museum, increasing the number of specimens to several hundreds of thousands in his first 28 years.  He also redistributed a further 400,000 specimens to other museums and individuals.  Though he had little time for field trips, he arranged trips for others to collect a vast variety of wildlife and geological artefacts.  He also prevailed on politicians and bureaucrats to collect items for him when they went on business trips.

To assist them, he published a pamphlet on how to collect, preserve, and transport specimens.

In about 1851, Baird took an interest in fish, and went on fish-collecting expeditions.  When the United States Fish Commission was established in 1871, he was appointed its director.  His work was to sponsor research into marine biology, increase the supply of food fish, and assist the fishing industry.  His name appeared as author of more than 1,000 titles, though many of these were brief reviews or official reports following surveys.

His most notable work was "Mammals of North America", published in 1857, (though it did not actually include specimens from Mexico).   In it, Baird described 216 mammals and birds not previously recorded.  He also developed new, more precise systems of nomenclature and classification. The work superseded the works of Audubon and John Bachman.

Baird was the first to promote an exchange of journals among learned societies all over the world.  His final work was "A History of North American Birds", published in 1874, and a standard work on bird life through the rest of the 19th century. 

Baird worked for the Smithsonian Institution for 37 years before succeeding the man who had hired him, Joseph Henry, as Secretary, in 1878.

Extra Connections: His work related to that of [work related to] Hayden* ; the establishment of National Parks*; [work related to] Smithson*; [work related to] Joseph Priestley*.  

He advised [advised] Seward* on the Alaska Purchase

Assessment: Simultaneously directing the Smithsonian Institution, the National Museum, and the Fish Commission, he had immense influence on American scientific institutions

Oneliner: SF Baird, 2^nd Sec of Smithsonian

Bibliography:

• Mearns, Barbara and Richard,  Audubon to Xantus: the Lives of those Commemorated in North American Bird Names,  Academic Press. London/San Diego, 1992.