Alexander Wilson (July 6, 1766 – August 23, 1813) was a Scottish-American poet, ornithologist, naturalist, and illustrator. Wilson is now regarded as the greatest American ornithologist prior to Audubon. It was his meeting with Audubon in Louisville, Kentucky in 1810 which probably inspired the younger man to produce a book of his own bird illustrations, though Audubon's reaction to Wilson was decidedly ambiguous.
Several species of bird were named after him, including Wilson's Storm-petrel, Wilson's Plover, Wilson's Phalarope, Wilson's Snipe and Wilson's Warbler. The warbler genus Wilsonia was also named for him by Charles Lucien Bonaparte. The Wilson Journal of Ornithology is also named after him.
Read more about Alexander Wilson: Biography, Publications, Biographies of Alexander Wilson
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“I thought when I was a young man that I would conquer the world with truth. I thought I would lead an army greater than Alexander ever dreamed of. Not to conquer nations, but to liberate mankind. With truth. With the golden sound of the Word. But only a few of them heard. Only a few of you understood. The rest of you put on black and sat in chapel.”
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