[[Image:Alexander Agassiz pers0118.jpg|thumb|right|Alexander Agassiz]]

'''Alexander Emanuel Agassiz''' ([[December 17]], [[1835]] – [[March 27]], [[1910]]), son of [[Louis Agassiz]] and stepson of [[Elizabeth Cabot Agassiz]], was an [[United States|American]] scientist and engineer.

He was born in [[Neuchâtel]], [[Switzerland]] and emigrated to the [[United States]] with his father in [[1849]]. He graduated at [[Harvard University]] in [[1855]], subsequently studying [[engineering]] and [[chemistry]], and taking the degree of [[bachelor of science]] at the [[Lawrence scientific school]] of the same institution in [[1857]]; and in [[1859]] became an assistant in the [[United States Coast Survey]].

Thenceforward he became a specialist in marine [[ichthyology]], but devoted much time to the investigation, superintendence and exploitation of [[mining|mine]]s.
[[E. J. Hulbert]], a friend of Agassiz's brother-in-law, [[Quincy Adams Shaw]], had discovered a rich copper lode known as the [[Calumet conglomerate]] on the [[Keweenaw Peninsula]] [[Lake Superior]] in [[Michigan]]. He persuaded them, along with a group of friends, to purchase a controlling interest in the mines, which later became known as the [[Calumet and Hecla Mining Company]] based in [[Calumet, Michigan]]. Up until the summer of [[1866]], Agassiz worked as an assistant in the museum of natural history that his father founded at Harvard. That summer, he took a trip to see the mines for himself and he afterwards became treasurer of the enterprise.

Over the winter of 1866 and early [[1867]], mining operations began to falter due to the difficulty of extracting copper from the conglomerate. Hulbert had sold his interests in the mines and had moved on to other ventures. But Agassiz refused to give up hope for the mines, and he returned to the mines in March of 1867 with his wife and young son. At that time, Calumet was a remote settlement, virtually inaccessible during the winter and very far removed from civilization even during the summer. With insufficient supplies at the mines, Agassiz struggled to maintain order, while back in Boston, Shaw was saddled with debt and the collapse of their interests. Shaw obtained financial assistance from John Simpkins, the selling agent for the enterprise to continue operations.

Agassiz continued to live at Calumet, making gradual progress in stablizing the mining operations, such that he was able to leave the mines under the control of a general manager and return to Boston in [[1868]] before winter closed navigation.

The mines continued to prosper and in May, [[1871]], several mines were consolidated to form the [[Calumet and Hecla Mining Company]] with Shaw as its first president. In August, 1871, Shaw "retired" to the board of directors and Agassiz became president, a position he held until his death.

Agassiz was a major factor in the mine's continued success and visited the mines twice a year. He innovated by installing a giant engine, known as the Superior, which was able to lift 24 tons of rock from a depth of 4,000 feet. He also built a railroad and dredged a channel to navigable waters. However, after a time the mines did not require his full-time year-round attention and he returned to his interests in natural history at Harvard.

Out of his copper fortune, he gave some $500,000 to Harvard for the museum of comparative [[zoology]] and other purposes.

In [[1875]] he surveyed [[Lake Titicaca]], [[Peru]], examined the [[copper]] mines of Peru and [[Chile]], and made a collection of Peruvian antiquities for the [[Museum of Comparative Zoology]], of which he was [[curator]] from [[1874]] to [[1885]]. He assisted [[Charles Wyville Thomson]] in the examination and classification of the collections of the ''[[Space Shuttle Challenger|Challenger]]'' exploring expedition, and wrote the ''Review of the Echini'' (2 vols., 1872–1874) in the reports.

Between [[1877]] and [[1880]] he took part in the three [[dredging]] expeditions of the steamer ''Blake'' of the Coast Survey, and presented a full account of them in two volumes ([[1888]]).

Of his other writings on marine zoology, most are contained in the bulletins and memoirs of the museum of comparative zoology; but he published in [[1865]] (with [[Elizabeth Cary Agassiz]], his stepmother) ''Seaside Studies in Natural History'', a work at once exact and stimulating, and in [[1871]] ''Marine Animals of [[Massachusetts]] Bay''.

He served as a president of the [[National Academy of Sciences]], which since 1913 has awarded the [[Alexander Agassiz Medal]] in his memory.

He died in [[1910]] onboard the [[SS Adriatic|SS ''Adriatic'']].

==See also==
*[[Agassiz family]]

== Works ==

* (with [[Elizabeth Cary Agassiz]]) ''Seaside Studies in Natural History'' ([[1865]])
* ''North American Acalephs'', (1865)
* ''[[Marine Animals of Massachusetts|Marine Animals of Massachusetts Bay]]'' ([[1817]])
* ''Revision of the Echini'' (2 vols., [[1872]]–[[1874]])
* ''North American Starfishes'', ([[1877]])
* ''Report on the Echini of the Challenger Expedition'', ([[1881]])
* ''Explorations of Lake Titicaca''
* ''List of the Echinoderms''
* ''Three Cruises of the ''Blake ([[1888]])
* ''Pacific Coral Reefs''
* ''Coral Reefs of the Maldives''
* ''Panamic Deep Sea Echini''

==Further reading==
* {{cite encyclopedia
| last =Dupree
| first = A. Hunter
| title =Alexander Agassiz
| encyclopedia = [[Dictionary of Scientific Biography]]
| volume = 1
| pages = 71-72
| publisher = Charles Scribner's Sons
| location = New York
| date = 1970
| isbn = 0684101149
}}

==External links==

{{DEFAULTSORT:Agassiz, Alexander Emanuel}}
[[Category:American zoologists]]
[[Category:American ichthyologists]]
[[Category:History of Michigan]]
[[Category:Foreign Members of the Royal Society]]
[[Category:1835 births]]
[[Category:1910 deaths]]

[[fr:Alexander Emanuel Agassiz]]
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