Wilhelm Philipp Schimper

Wilhelm Philipp Schimper (January 12, 1808 - March 20, 1880) was a German-French botanist who was born in Dossenheim-sur-Zinsel, a town near the River Rhine. He was father of botanist Andreas Franz Wilhelm Schimper (1856-1901) and cousin to naturalist Karl Friedrich Schimper (1803-1867) and botanist Georg Heinrich Wilhelm Schimper (1804-1878). After graduation from the University of Strasbourg, he was a curator of the Natural History Museum in Strasbourg, becoming director of the museum in 1839. From 1862 until 1879 he was a professor of geology and natural history at the University of Strasbourg.

Schimper's contributions to biology were mainly in the specialized fields of bryology (study of mosses) and paleobotany (study of plant fossils). He spent considerable time travelling throughout Europe collecting botanical specimens. His best-known written work is the six-volume "Bryologia Europaea", which was published between 1836 and 1855. It was co-written with Philipp Bruch (1781-1847) and described every species of moss known in 19th century Europe.

Schimper also made significant contributions in geology. In 1874 Schimper proposed a scientific subdivision of the Tertiary Era. He called this new subdivision the Paleocene Era, which he based on paleobotanical findings from the Paris Basin.