author
A. S. (Alpheus Spring) Packard
1839–1905
A pioneering American naturalist, he helped shape early entomology in the United States through energetic fieldwork, teaching, and an enormous range of scientific writing. Best known for his studies of insects, he also wrote on evolution and helped found one of the country's important science magazines.
3 Audiobooks
Our Common Insects A Popular Account of the Insects of Our Fields, Forests, Gardens and Houses
by A. S. (Alpheus Spring) Packard
Lamarck, the Founder of Evolution: His Life and Work
by A. S. (Alpheus Spring) Packard
About the author
Born in Brunswick, Maine, on February 19, 1839, A. S. Packard Jr. grew into one of the leading American zoologists of the 19th century. He studied at Bowdoin College, later served during the Civil War, and went on to build a career that joined close observation of the natural world with wide-ranging scientific curiosity.
Packard is especially remembered as an entomologist and paleontologist who described more than 500 new animal species, with major work on butterflies and moths. He was also one of the founders of The American Naturalist, and from 1878 until his death he served as a professor of zoology and geology at Brown University.
His books and articles helped bring insect anatomy, development, and classification to a broader audience of students and working naturalists. Alongside his research, he wrote on larger scientific questions as well, including a full-length study of Lamarck, showing how interested he was not just in specimens themselves but in the big ideas behind evolution and natural history.