Swiss geologist and geographer

Arnold Henri Guyot's geological field studies advanced the knowledge of lakes, glaciers, ice ages, mountains, erratic boulders, evolution, and weather.

Guyot was born in Boudevilliers, Switzerland, on September 28, 1807. After graduating from the University of Neuchâtel, Switzerland, in 1825, he went to Germany to continue his studies in botany, zoology, entomology, geography, and theology. While living and studying with botanist Alexander Braun (1805–1877) in Karlsruhe, Germany, he met naturalist Louis Agassiz (1807–1873) and botanist Karl Friedrich Schimper (1803–1867), who would later coin the term "ice age." During this time, Guyot considered becoming a minister, but decided instead on a career in science. He received his doctorate in geology from the University of Berlin in 1835 with a dissertation on lakes. Among his professors at Berlin was the geographer Carl Ritter (1779–1859).

For the next four years, Guyot worked as a private tutor for the...