Overview Joseph Mellick Leidy (1823-1891), one of the great American scientists of the 19th century, possessed a vast knowledge of the natural world. Best known as the Father of American vertebrate paleontology, he also pioneered the fields of parasitology and protozoology, and was the preeminent anatomist of his time. He was also an influential teacher of natural history and an expert in areas as diverse as entomology, geology and pathology. The Joseph Leidy Correspondence collection contains...

Overview Scientists have been studying shells from the very beginning of the Academy of Natural Science’s long history. Thomas Say, Isaac Lea, and Timothy Abbott Conrad are just a few examples of Academy scientists who made important contributions to the field of conchology before there was an official department at the Academy. On December 26, 1866, the Conchological Section was formally established at the Academy, creating a departmental unity under curator George Washington Tryon, who led...