Kalm, Pehr

In 1747, he was commissioned by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences to travel to the North American colonies in order to bring back seeds and plants that might be useful to agriculture. Among his many scientific accomplishments, Kalm can be credited with the first description of Niagara Falls written by a trained scientist. [ 1 ] In addition, he published the first scientific paper on the North American 17-year periodical cicada, Magicicada septendecim.