Written by Swiss–born geologist and explorer Louis Agassiz (1807–73), this 1850 publication was the first detailed scientific account of the natural phenomena of Lake Superior. Agassiz, who became a professor at Harvard and later founded the Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology, was the first scientist to suggest that the earth had experienced an ice age. In the summer of 1848 he led an expedition of his students to Lake Superior, to examine the northern shores, which had previously received very little attention from scientists. The artist James Elliot Cabot (1821–1903), who was included in the party, wrote the 'narrative' of the tour to accompany the scientific report, and this makes up the first part of the work. The rest of the book describes the geological phenomena and zoological distribution in and around the lake, comparing it with similar regions of the world.

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Product details
- Date Published: September 2011
- format: Paperback
- isbn: 9781108032551
- length: 476 pages
- dimensions: 216 x 140 x 27 mm
- weight: 0.6kg
- contains: 17 b/w illus.
- availability: Available
Table of Contents
Preface
Part I. Narrative:
1. Boston to the Sault de St. Marie
2. The Sault to Fort William
3. Fort William back to the Sault
4. From the Sault homewards
Part II. Natural History:
1. The northern vegetation compared with that of the Jura and the Alps
2. Observations on the vegetation of the northern shores of Lake Superior
3. Classification of animals from embryonic and palaeozoic data
4. General remarks upon the coleoptera of Lake Superior John L. Leconte
5. Catalogue of shells, with descriptions of new species A. A. Gould
6. Fishes of Lake Superior compared with those of the other great Canadian Lakes
7. Description of some new species of reptiles from the region of Lake Superior
8. Report on the birds collected and observed at Lake Superior J. E. Cabot
9. Descriptions of some species of lepidoptera, from the northern shores of Lake Superior T. W. Harris
10. The erratic phenomena about Lake Superior
11. The outlines of Lake Superior
12. Geological relations of the various copper deposits of Lake Superior.
Author
Louis Agassiz
Contributors
John L. Leconte, A. A. Gould, J. E. Cabot, T. W. Harris