Waldemar Theodore Schaller (August 3, 1882 – September 28, 1967) was an American mineralogist and longtime employee of the

United States Geological Survey The United States Geological Survey (USGS), founded as the Geological Survey, is an agency of the U.S. Department of the Interior whose work spans the disciplines of biology, geography, geology, and hydrology. The agency was founded on Mar ...

(USGS).

Education and career

Schaller is the son of Theodore P. Schaller and Eliza Bornernan Schaller. He first received basic knowledge in the field of chemistry from his father before he began his studies at the

University of California The University of California (UC) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university, research university system in the U.S. state of California. Headquartered in Oakland, California, Oakland, the system is co ...

. After receiving his bachelor's degree in 1903, he got a job with the

USGS The United States Geological Survey (USGS), founded as the Geological Survey, is an government agency, agency of the United States Department of the Interior, U.S. Department of the Interior whose work spans the disciplines of biology, geograp ...

as an assistant chemist. On March 1, 1912, Waldemar Schaller resigned from his job at the USGS for a while so that he and his wife, Mary Ellen Boyland, could visit a number of museums in Europe and talk to the mineralogists in charge there. In June of the same year he received his doctorate in philosophy in Munich under Professor Paul Heinrich von Groth for his study of the

tourmaline Tourmaline ( ) is a crystalline silicate mineral, silicate mineral group in which boron is chemical compound, compounded with chemical element, elements such as aluminium, iron, magnesium, sodium, lithium, or potassium. This gemstone comes in a ...

group. From 1944 to 1947, Schaller was executive director of the USGS Chemistry and Physics Division. After working for the USGS for more than 60 years, Schaller became seriously ill in 1965 and finally died two years later at the Mar Salle Nursing Home in Washington, D.C.

Research highlights

Schaller's contributions to mineralogy were numerous and covered a wide range of subjects. Most notable, however, is his conclusion that water or hydroxyl is an essential component of

tremolite Tremolite is a member of the amphibole group of silicate minerals with composition Ca2(Mg5.0-4.5Fe2+0.0-0.5)Si8O22(OH)2. Tremolite forms by metamorphism of sediments rich in dolomite and quartz, and occurs in two distinct forms, crystals and fib ...

, which subsequently led to a new interpretation of the composition and structure of all

amphibole Amphibole ( ) is a group of inosilicate minerals, forming prism or needlelike crystals, composed of double chain tetrahedra, linked at the vertices and generally containing ions of iron and/or magnesium in their structures. Its IMA symbol is ...

s. Likewise, his studies on the

paragenesis Paragenesis is a petrologic concept meaning an ''equilibrium sequence of mineral phases''. It is used in studies of igneous and metamorphic rock genesis and importantly in studies of the hydrothermal deposition of ore minerals and the rock alteratio ...

of salt minerals and their deposits in New Mexico and Texas from the Permian period were groundbreaking for the British mineralogists and their later investigations of the English evaporites of the same age. Schaller is considered the first to describe over 40 new minerals. Already in 1905 he described the purpurite together with

Louis Caryl Graton Louis Caryl Graton (1880–1970), American geologist, chemist and educator, began his career in 1900 as assayer for Ledyard Gold Mines Ltd., near Rockdale, Ontario. He moved on to Canadian Goldfields Ltd. later in 1900, then entered McGill Unive ...

.Louis Caryl Graton, Waldemar T. Schaller: ''Purpurite, a new mineral'', in: ''American Journal of Science'', Series 4 Vol. 20, August 1905, S. 146–151, doi:10.2475/ajs.s4-20.116.146 In 1912, three more mineral descriptions followed:

hydroxyapatite Hydroxyapatite (International Mineralogical Association, IMA name: hydroxylapatite) (Hap, HAp, or HA) is a naturally occurring mineral form of calcium apatite with the Chemical formula, formula , often written to denote that the Crystal struc ...

,Waldemar T. Schaller (1912): ''Mineralogical notes, Series 2. Mineralogy of the French phosphorites'', in: ''U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin'', Vol. 509, S. 89–100
PDF 430,8 kB
sicklerite and stewartite,Waldemar T. Schaller (1912): ''New manganese phosphates from the gem tourmaline field of Southern California'', in: ''Journal of the Washington Academy of Sciences'', Vol. 2, S. 143–145
PDF 223 kB
and four more mineral descriptions in one year in 1915: bisbeeite,
/ref> fernandinite, minasragrite and shattuckite,Waldemar T. Schaller (1915): ''Four new minerals'', in: ''Journal of the Washington Academy of Sciences'', Vol. 5, S 7
PDF 55,5 kB
although bisbeeite was discredited by the CNMMNC in 1977 as being identical to

chrysocolla Chrysocolla ( ) is a hydrous copper phyllosilicate mineral and mineraloid with the formula (''x'' < 1) or . The structure of the mineral has been questioned, as a 2006 spectrographic study suggest ma ...

following more recent investigations. With

kernite Kernite, also known as rasorite, is a hydrated sodium borate hydroxide mineral with formula . It is a colorless to white mineral crystallizing in the monoclinic crystal system typically occurring as prismatic to acicular (crystal habit), acicular ...

,Waldemar T. Schaller (1927): ''Kernite, a new sodium borate'', in: ''American Mineralogist'', Vol. 12, S. 24–25
PDF 141,1 kB
a rare but important ore for the production of

boron Boron is a chemical element; it has symbol B and atomic number 5. In its crystalline form it is a brittle, dark, lustrous metalloid; in its amorphous form it is a brown powder. As the lightest element of the boron group it has three ...

was added in 1927, In 1950, the silicate miseriteWaldemar T. Schaller: ''Miserite from Arkansas; a renaming of natroxonotlite.'' In: ''American Mineralogist.'' (1950), Vol. 35, S. 911–921
PDF 656,4 kB
followed in a corrective description and in 1958, together with Angelina C. Vlisidis, described the

ajoite Ajoite (Help:IPA/English, /ɑːhoaɪt/) is a hydrated sodium potassium copper aluminium Silicate mineral, silicate hydroxide mineral. Ajoite has the chemical formula (Na,K)Cu7AlSi9O24(OH)6·3H2O, and minor manganese, Mn, iron, Fe and calcium, Ca ...

.Waldemar T. Schaller, Angelina C. Vlisidis (1958): ''Ajoite, a new hydrous aluminum copper silicate'', in: ''American Mineralogist'', Volume 43, S. 1107–1111
PDF 290,7 kB
Although the mineral

crandallite Crandallite is a calcium aluminium basic phosphate mineral. It has ideal formula . Crandallite was named after Milan L. Crandall Jr, who worked for Knight Syndicate. This mineral is found in laterite and in alteration products of phosphate rich p ...

was already known by B. Kosmann in 1869, it was only in 1927 by Gerald Francis Loughlin and Schaller that it received an exact analysis and its final name.G. F. Loughlin, W. T. Schaller (1917): ''Crandallite, a new mineral'', in: ''American Journal of Science'', Vol. 43, S. 69–74
PDF 299 kB

Honors and awards

Schaller was elected to the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other ...

in 1919. He was a member of the

Mineralogical Society of America The Mineralogical Society of America (MSA) is a scientific membership organization. MSA was founded in 1919 for the advancement of mineralogy, crystallography, geochemistry, and petrology, and promotion of their uses in other sciences, industry, ...

, where he was treasurer from 1930 to 1940, vice president in 1921 and president in 1926. He was also Vice President (1934) and President (1935) of the Geological Society of Washington, and Vice President 1936-1937 of the Washington Academy of Sciences. Outside America he was a member of the

Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and Ireland The Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and Ireland (now known as the Mineralogical Society of the United Kingdom and Ireland) was founded in 1876. Its main purpose is to disseminate scientific knowledge of the Mineral Sciences (mineralogy) as ...

, the

German Mineralogical Society The German Mineralogical Society (''Deutsche Mineralogische Gesellschaft'', or DMG, in German) is a non-profit German society for the promotion of mineralogy. It has about 1400 members (2021) and belongs to the International Mineralogical Associati ...

and the Mineralogical Society of Austria. He was also a member of the

Sigma Xi Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Honor Society () is an international non-profit honor society for scientists and engineers. Sigma Xi was founded at Cornell University by a faculty member and graduate students in 1886 and is one of the oldest ...

scientific association and the

Cosmos Club The Cosmos Club is a 501(c)(7) private social club in Washington, D.C., that was founded by John Wesley Powell in 1878 as a gentlemen's club for those interested in science. Among its stated goals is, "The advancement of its members in science, ...

. In 1925, a mineral described by Gage, Larsen, and Vassar was named schallerite in his honor.John W. Anthony, Richard A. Bideaux, Kenneth W. Bladh, Monte C. Nichols: ''Schallerite'', in: ''Handbook of Mineralogy'', Mineralogical Society of America 2001
PDF 62,5 kB

/ref> He received numerous awards throughout his career, including the following *

Roebling Medal The Roebling Medal is the highest award of the Mineralogical Society of America for scientific eminence as represented primarily by scientific publication of outstanding original research in mineralogy. The award is named for Colonel Washington A. ...

from the

(1938) * Honorary Member of the

(1945) * USGS Distinguished Service Medal (1952) * Honorary Member of the Société française de Mineralogie et Cystallographie (1956) * Friedrich Becke Medal of the Austrian Mineralogical Society (1963)

Bibliography

Waldemar Schaller's bibliography includes around 300 writings and works, among others: * 1909: ''The mercury minerals from Terlingua, Texas'' * 1914: ''Colorado ferberite and the wolframite series'' * 1916: ''Cassiterite in San Diego County, California'' * 1930: ''Borate minerals from the Kramer district Mohave Desert, California'' * 1932: ''The crystal cavities of the New Jersey zeolite region'' und ''Mineralogy of drill cores from the potash field of New Mexico and Texas''

External links

* Joseph J. Fahey: ''Memorial of Waldemar Theodore Schaller'', in: The American Mineralogist, VOL. 54, MARCH-APRIL 1969
PDF 357,8 kB
* Marjorie Hooker: ''Bibliography of Waldemar Theodore Schaller'' (bis 1953), U.S. Geological Survey, Washington, D.C.
PDF 583,8 kB

References

{{Authority control 1882 births 1967 deaths American mineralogists People from Oakland, California University of California, Berkeley alumni Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich alumni United States Geological Survey personnel