Historical Aspects of Agassiz's Lectures on Glacial Geology (1860-61)

Louis Agassiz (1807-1873) is regarded as one of the founders of glacial geology and the originator of the ice-age theory. His public lectures and popular writings included those topics. In 1860-61 he gave a series of class-room lectures on glacial geology to his students at the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard University. Excerpts have been made to show his explanation for the formation of glaciers, their movements, seasonal advancement and retreat, and their eventual covering of much of the earth. Also included were the structure of the glacier, its production of moraines, and its action on bedrocks and the landscape. He gave credit to his predecessors and colleagues, especially de Saussure, Venetz, and de Charpentier, for their pioneering work on glaciers. Brief attention was given to the effect of glaciers on the fauna, according to his interpretation, following the catastrophism theory of Cuvier.