- Alexander Wilson
Infobox Scientist
name = PAGENAME
box_width =
image_width =230px
caption = PAGENAME
birth_date =July 6 ,1766
birth_place =Paisley ,Scotland
death_date =August 23 ,1813
death_place =
residence =
citizenship =
nationality =Scottish-American
ethnicity =
field = naturalist
work_institutions =
alma_mater =
doctoral_advisor =
doctoral_students =
known_for =
author_abbrev_bot =
author_abbrev_zoo =
influences =
influenced =
prizes =
religion =
footnotes =Alexander Wilson (
July 6 ,1766 –August 23 ,1813 ) was aScottish-American poet ,ornithologist , naturalist andillustrator .Wilson was born in
Paisley ,Scotland , the son of an illiterate distiller. In 1779 he wasapprentice d as a weaver. His main interest at this time was in writingpoetry , and his poems commenting on the unfair treatment of the weavers by their employers got him into trouble with the authorities. The "golden age ofRenfrewshire song" is embodied in the persons of Wilson andRobert Tannahill .Robert Burns was eight years older than Tannahill. He was born near the Hammils, a broad if not steep waterfall in Paisley where theRiver Cart skirts Seedhill. It does indeed appear to be the case, asWilliam Motherwell states, that a great amount of literary activity began in Paisley around this time.In May 1794 Wilson left Scotland with his nephew to find a better life in America. Wilson obtained employment as a schoolteacher in Milestown, near
Philadelphia . In 1801 he left Milestown and found a new teaching post in Gray's Ferry,Pennsylvania ; Wilson took up residence in nearby Kingsessing. It was here that he met the famous naturalistWilliam Bartram who developed Wilson's interest inornithology . In 1802 Wilson decided to publish a book illustrating all theNorth America nbird s. With this in mind he traveled widely, watching and painting birds and collecting subscribers for his book. The result was the nine-volume "American Ornithology" (1808-1814), illustrating 268 species of birds, 26 of which had not previously been described. He died during the writing of the ninth volume, which was completed and published after his death by his friendGeorge Ord . Wilson lies buried next to Ord at Gloria Dei Church cemetery inPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania .Wilson is now regarded as the greatest American ornithologist prior to Audubon. It was his meeting with Audubon in
Louisville, Kentucky in 1810 which probably inspired the younger man to produce a book of his own bird illustrations.Several species of bird were named for Wilson, including
Wilson's Storm-petrel ,Wilson's Plover ,Wilson's Phalarope andWilson's Warbler . The warbler genus "Wilsonia " was also named for him byCharles Lucien Bonaparte .The Wilson Journal of Ornithology is named after him.References
*"Biographies for Birdwatchers", Barbara & Richard Mearns ISBN 0-12-487422-3
External links
* [http://xroads.virginia.edu/~PUBLIC/wilson/front.html Alexander Wilson, American Ornithologist] Complete illustrations from the 9 vol. edition with critical biography.
* [http://exhibits.mannlib.cornell.edu/majestysublime/ Alexander Wilson] Cornell University, Mann Library
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.