Ignaz (Ignace) Venetz (1788 — 1859) was a Swiss

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the limit ...

, naturalist, and

glaciologist Glaciology (; ) is the scientific study of glaciers, or more generally ice and natural phenomena that involve ice. Glaciology is an interdisciplinary Earth science that integrates geophysics, geology, physical geography, geomorphology, clima ...

; as one of the first scientists to recognize

glacier A glacier (; ) is a persistent body of dense ice that is constantly moving under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires distinguishing features, such as ...

s as a major force in shaping the earth, he played a leading role in the foundation of

glaciology Glaciology (; ) is the scientific study of glaciers, or more generally ice and natural phenomena that involve ice. Glaciology is an interdisciplinary Earth science that integrates geophysics, geology, physical geography, geomorphology, c ...

Biography

Venetz was of a family long settled in the

Valais Valais ( , , ; frp, Valês; german: Wallis ), more formally the Canton of Valais,; german: Kanton Wallis; in other official Swiss languages outside Valais: it, (Canton) Vallese ; rm, (Chantun) Vallais. is one of the 26 cantons forming the S ...

, where he worked as

cantonal The 26 cantons of Switzerland (german: Kanton; french: canton ; it, cantone; Sursilvan and Surmiran: ; Vallader and Puter: ; Sutsilvan: ; Rumantsch Grischun: ) are the member states of the Swiss Confederation. The nucleus of the Swiss Con ...

engineer first for Valais and then for

Vaud Vaud ( ; french: (Canton de) Vaud, ; german: (Kanton) Waadt, or ), more formally the canton of Vaud, is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. It is composed of ten districts and its capital city is Lausanne. Its coat of arms b ...

. As cantonal engineer he directed the ultimately unsuccessful attempt to drain the ice-dammed lake that had formed following the volcanic winter of 1816 high in the

Val de Bagnes Val de Bagnes, also called the Vallée de Bagnes (German: Bangital or Baniental) is a valley located in the Entremont District in the Canton of Valais of Switzerland. Geography Val de Bagnes is traversed by the Drance de Bagnes. In the upper p ...

; the ice dam failed catastrophically on June 16, 1818. He worked primarily in the

canton area of the western

Alps The Alps () ; german: Alpen ; it, Alpi ; rm, Alps ; sl, Alpe . are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately across seven Alpine countries (from west to east): France, Swi ...

. In 1821 he completed the first draft of his work "Mémoire sur les Variations de la température dans les Alpes de la Suisse", suggesting that much of

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

had at one point in the past been covered by glaciers. The book was published in 1833 after additional research in the Swiss Alps,''Ein 'Nationales Forschungsprojekt' über Klimaänderungen in den Alpen – vor 180 Jahren!''
(A "National Research Project" on climate change in the Alps - 180 years ago). University of Berne, Switzerland). Accessed on March 8, 2008. seven years before Louis Agassiz published his famous work ''Étude sur les glaciers'' (Study on Glaciers).

References

1788 births 1859 deaths 19th-century Swiss scientists Swiss glaciologists People from Visp (district) {{Glaciologist-stub