author
George W. (George Williams) Peckham
1845–1914
An educator and naturalist with a sharp eye for animal behavior, he helped pioneer the study of jumping spiders and wasps in the United States. His work, often done with Elizabeth G. Peckham, brought scientific curiosity to subjects many readers had never noticed closely before.
1 Audiobook
Wasps, Social and Solitary
by George W. (George Williams) Peckham, E. G. (Elizabeth Gifford) Peckham
About the author
Born in Albany, New York, on March 23, 1845, he moved to Milwaukee as a child and later served in the 1st Wisconsin Heavy Artillery during the Civil War. He studied at Antioch College, Albany Law School, and the University of Michigan, then built a career in education in Milwaukee as a teacher, principal, superintendent of schools, and librarian.
Alongside his wife, Elizabeth Maria Gifford Peckham, he became known for careful studies of animal behavior, especially jumping spiders and wasps. The Peckhams were early American figures in ethology, arachnology, and entomology, and their observations helped make close behavioral study an important part of natural history.
He died on January 10, 1914. Today he is remembered both for his public work in education and for the scientific partnership that made George and Elizabeth Peckham lasting names in the study of insects and spiders.