Biography:
Edward Drinker Cope (July 28, 1840 – April 12, 1897) was an American
paleontologist and
comparative anatomist, as well as a noted
herpetologist and
ichthyologist. He was a founder of the
Neo-Lamarckism school of thought. Born to a wealthy
Quaker family, Cope distinguished himself as a child prodigy interested in science; he published his first scientific paper at the age of 19. Though his father tried to raise Cope as a gentleman farmer, he eventually acquiesced to his son's scientific aspirations. Cope married his cousin and had one child; the family moved from
Philadelphia to
Haddonfield, New Jersey, although Cope would maintain a residence and museum in Philadelphia in his later years.