Editing Thomas Say (section)

==Career==
[[File:Thomas Say's Phoebe.jpg|thumb|left|[[Say's phoebe]] (''Sayornis saya'')]]

Say trained to be an apothecary. A self-taught naturalist, Say helped found the [[Academy of Natural Sciences]] of Philadelphia (ANSP) in 1812.  In 1816, he met [[Charles Alexandre Lesueur]], a French naturalist, malacologist, and ichthyologist who soon became a member of the Academy and served as its curator until 1824.

At the Academy, Say began his work on what he would publish as ''American Entomology''.  To collect insects, he made numerous expeditions to frontier areas, risking [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|American Indian]] attacks and hazards of traveling in wild countryside.  In 1818, Say accompanied his friend [[William Maclure]], then the ANSP president and father of American [[geology]]; Gerhard Troost, a geologist; and other members of the Academy on a geological expedition to the off-shore islands of [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]] and [[Florida]], then a Spanish colony.

In 1819–20, Major [[Stephen Harriman Long]] led an exploration to the [[Rocky Mountains]] and the tributaries of the [[Missouri River]], with Say as zoologist. Their official account of this expedition included the first descriptions of the [[coyote]], [[swift fox]], [[western kingbird]], [[band-tailed pigeon]], [[rock wren]], [[Say's phoebe]],  [[lesser goldfinch]], [[lark sparrow]], [[lazuli bunting]], [[orange-crowned warbler]], [[Common Checkered Whiptail|checkered whiptail lizard]], [[Common collared lizard|collared lizard]], [[Scincella lateralis|ground skink]], [[Pantherophis obsoletus|western rat snake]], and [[Thamnophis proximus|western ribbon snake]].<ref>Say T (1823). '''''In'':''' [[Edwin James (scientist)|James E]] (1823). ''Account of an Expedition from Pittsburgh to the Rocky Mountains, Performed in the Years 1819 and '20, by Order of the Hon. J.C. Calhoun, Sec'y of War: Under the Command of Major Stephen H. Long. From the Notes of Major Long, Mr. T. Say, and other Gentlemen of the Exploring Party, Vol. I.'' Philadelphia: H.C. Carey and I. Lea. 503 pp.</ref>

[[Image:Papilio glacusSayP040CAA1.jpg|thumb|''Papilio turnus'' (= ''[[Papilio glaucus]]''), from ''American Entomology'']]
In 1823, Say served as chief zoologist in Long's expedition to the headwaters of the [[Mississippi River]].  He traveled on the "Boatload of Knowledge" to the [[New Harmony, Indiana|New Harmony]] Settlement in [[Indiana]] (1826–34), a [[utopia]]n society experiment founded by [[Robert Owen]].  Say was accompanied by Maclure, Lesueur, Troost, and [[Francis Neef]], an innovative pedagogue. There he later met [[Constantine Samuel Rafinesque-Schmaltz]], another naturalist.

On January 4, 1827, Say secretly married [[Lucy Say|Lucy Way Sistare]], whom he had met as one of the passengers to New Harmony, near the settlement. She was an artist and illustrator of specimens, as in the book ''American Conchology'', and was elected as the first woman member of the Academy of Natural Sciences.

At New Harmony, Thomas Say carried on his monumental work describing insects and mollusks, leading to two classic works:
*''American Entomology, or Descriptions of the Insects of North America'', 3 volumes, Philadelphia, 1824–1828.
*''American Conchology, or Descriptions of the Shells of North America Illustrated From Coloured Figures From Original Drawings Executed from Nature'', Parts 1–6, New Harmony, 1830–1834; Part 7, Philadelphia, 1836.

Many of the scientific names assigned by Say are no longer accepted. Lists of the former names matched with current scientific and common names are available.<ref>Clark Kimberling, [https://www.cornelius-tiebout-engravings.org/part_11.html Cornelius Tiebout Engravings: Part 11. ''American Entomology'']</ref><ref>Clark Kimberling, [https://www.cornelius-tiebout-engravings.org/part_12.html Cornelius Tiebout Engravings: Part 12. ''American Conchology'']</ref>

During their years in New Harmony, Say and Lesueur experienced considerable difficulties. Say was a modest and unassuming man, who lived frugally like a [[hermit]]. He abandoned commercial activities and devoted himself to his studies, making difficulties for his family.

Say died, apparently from [[typhoid fever]], in New Harmony on 10 October 1834, when he was 47 years old.