All the Light Here Comes from Above: The Life and Legacy of Edward Hitchcock
Robert T. McMaster, Author, Ecologist and Retired Biology Professor, Holyoke Community College
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Date:
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Wednesday, June 9, 2021 at 7 pm
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Details:
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This public talk will be presented via Zoom. Admission is a sliding scale: $0 to $20.
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Edward Hitchcock (1793-1864)
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Robert McMaster will speak about his new book, the first full-length biography of Edward Hitchcock (1793-1864). Hitchcock was one of the brightest stars in American science and philosophy in the nineteenth century. The son of a hatter and farmer of Deerfield, Massachusetts, Hitchcock was expected to pursue a farmer's life, but early on he developed a "strong relish" for science. He became a pioneer in paleontology, a minister, the first State Geologist of Massachusetts, and president of Amherst College. Deeply religious, he sought to reconcile religion and science.
ROBERT T. McMASTER has been intrigued by Edward Hitchcock ever since he visited the Pratt Museum of Natural History (now the Beneski Museum) at Amherst College over half a century ago. He completed his undergraduate studies at Clark University and earned a graduate degree from Boston College. After teaching science at the middle school level and working in environmental education for nearly fifteen years, he returned to graduate school in 1991, earning advanced degrees at Smith College and the University of Massachusetts. He taught biology at Holyoke Community College in Holyoke, Massachusetts, from 1994 to 2014. He has recently published All the Light Here Comes from Above: The Life and Legacy of Edward Hitchcock, the first biography ever written of one of the region’s most famous citizens. He lives in Williamsburg.
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