GESNER, CONRAD

born March 26, 1516, Zrich died Dec. 13, 1565, Zrich Conrad also spelled Konrad Swiss physician and naturalist, best known for his systematic compilations of information on animals and plants. Additional reading Major biographies are: Willy Ley, Konrad Gesner (1929), a summary in German of his life and contributions in zoology, botany, paleontology, and medicine, with a catalog of his publications and a bibliography of source materials; and Dawn of Zoology (1968), the most extensive discussion in English on Gesner's place in the history of zoology, with reproductions of his wood engravings of animals and birds; and Johannes Hanhart, Conrad Gessner (1824), the first definitive and still valuable biography (in German). J. Christian Bay, Conrad Gesner (151665) the Father of Bibliography: An Appreciation (1916), discusses how Gesner's Bibliotheca universalis brought to public attention the existing sources of knowledge, thereby stimulating learning in the Renaissance; Sir William Jardine (ed.), Memoir of Gesner, The Naturalist's Library, vol. 20, pp. 158 (1866), cites his contributions to natural history; and J.M Thorington, On Conrad Gesner (1937), assesses his contributions to mountaineering.