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Joseph Leidy, one of Philadelphia's most famous scientists
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Take a quick test – name the man responsible for founding our first public library, first zoo and first firehouse. Of course, Ben Franklin should be the answer resounding in our minds. Try another – how did our fine state get its name? No matter how long ago you finished elementary school, it is easy to guess that you could name William Penn as the man responsible for Penn’s Woods, aka Pennsylvania. Okay, one last question, name the Philadelphia-born physician who is known as the Father of American Vertebrate Paleontology. Huh? Physicians study humans, not dinosaurs, right? Is this a trick question? Well, perhaps it is a bit of a trick, but many of us are not familiar with one of our most influential and brilliant scientists of the nineteenth century and his name is Dr. Joseph Leidy.
Joseph Leidy was born in 1823 on North Third Street to German immigrant parents. He was always a curious young boy and spent his days outdoors searching the beds of the Delaware and the woods of South Jersey to investigate the flora and fauna (plants and wildlife), but also to add to his collection of fossils, which grew quite expansive during his childhood. He felt obligated to study medicine so that he could use his knowledge of science to focus his attention on specimens from his environment, to examine and evaluate fossils and to answer the myriad of questions his mind uncovered by just a simple walk from his home to his office.
Although Joseph was trained as a physician, he was not comfortable with treating patients directly. He was more comfortable with his microscope and with his investigations of nature. Leidy was one of our first research scientists, a man convinced that designing experiments and testing for outcomes was the only true way to answer questions about the world around us.
Dr. Leidy’s devotion to the wonders of the natural world, including the wonders of fossilized remains of our pre-historic world, led him to become a member of the elite group of Philadelphia’s educated society and founding member of the Academy of Natural Sciences. In fact, Dr. Leidy became one of the most renowned presidents of the Academy in 1881. His love of fossils, the excitement that it fostered in examining and evaluating them, and the accuracy and insightfulness of his evaluations, earned him the title American Father of Vertebrate Paleontology and made him one of the most sought-after scientists in our nation. Leidy was at the cutting edge of many areas of science, not just paleontology. He was considered the best microscopist in our country, he is the founder of American parasitology (the study of parasites), he spearheaded the group of men who were the first to ever assemble dinosaur bones in real-life configuration and he even experimented with transplanting of human cancer cells into animals to better understand their nature. Leidy was a man of many interests and he became a leader in each of those fields of interest.
Considering the youth of our nation and of our scientific community, the fact that an American born scientist could rival the knowledge and intelligence of learned paleontologists and scientists throughout Europe was an accomplishment of great proportion! Joseph Leidy was one of America’s first scientists to truly make a mark in history. He is a true Philadelphia treasure!
