Karl Friedrich August Rammelsberg (1 April 1813 – 28 December 1899) was a German

mineralogist Mineralogy is a subject of geology specializing in the scientific study of the chemistry, crystal structure, and physical (including optical) properties of minerals and mineralized artifacts. Specific studies within mineralogy include the proces ...

from Berlin,

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an em ...

Life

After an apprenticeship in

pharmacy Pharmacy is the science and practice of discovering, producing, preparing, dispensing, reviewing and monitoring medications, aiming to ensure the safe, effective, and affordable use of medicines. It is a miscellaneous science as it links heal ...

, he studied

chemistry Chemistry is the science, scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a natural science that covers the Chemical element, elements that make up matter to the chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules and ions ...

and

crystallography Crystallography is the experimental science of determining the arrangement of atoms in crystalline solids. Crystallography is a fundamental subject in the fields of materials science and solid-state physics (condensed matter physics). The wor ...

at the

University of Berlin Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (german: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a German public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin. It was established by Frederick William III on the initiative o ...

, where his influences were

Eilhard Mitscherlich Eilhard Mitscherlich (; 7 January 179428 August 1863) was a German chemist, who is perhaps best remembered today for his discovery of the phenomenon of crystallographic isomorphism in 1819. Early life and work Mitscherlich was born at Neuende ...

Heinrich Rose Heinrich Rose (6 August 1795 – 27 January 1864) was a German mineralogist and analytical chemist. He was the brother of the mineralogist Gustav Rose and a son of Valentin Rose. Rose's early works on phosphorescence were noted in the Quarter ...

Christian Samuel Weiss Christian Samuel Weiss (26 February 1780 – 1 October 1856) was a German mineralogist born in Leipzig. Following graduation, he worked as a physics instructor in Leipzig from 1803 until 1808. and in the meantime, conducted geological studies of ...

and

Gustav Rose Prof Gustavus ("Gustav") Rose FRSFor HFRSE (18 March 1798 – 15 July 1873) was a German mineralogist who was a native of Berlin. He was President of the German Geological Society from 1863 to 1873. Life He was born in Berlin the son of pharmaco ...

. His graduate thesis in 1837 dealt with

cyanogen Cyanogen is the chemical compound with the formula ( C N)2. It is a colorless and highly toxic gas with a pungent odor. The molecule is a pseudohalogen. Cyanogen molecules consist of two CN groups – analogous to diatomic halogen molecule ...

, "''De cyanogenii connubiis nonnullis''". In 1841 he became a

privatdozent ''Privatdozent'' (for men) or ''Privatdozentin'' (for women), abbreviated PD, P.D. or Priv.-Doz., is an academic title conferred at some European universities, especially in German-speaking countries, to someone who holds certain formal qualific ...

at the university, and in 1845 was named an associate professor of inorganic chemistry. From 1850 he taught classes at the ''Gewerbeakademie'', a vocational training academy that was a predecessor of the

Technical University of Berlin The Technical University of Berlin (official name both in English and german: link=no, Technische Universität Berlin, also known as TU Berlin and Berlin Institute of Technology) is a public research university located in Berlin, Germany. It was ...

. In 1874 he became a full professor of chemistry at the university and in 1883 was appointed director of the inorganic chemistry laboratory.Rammelsberg, Karl (Carl) Friedrich
Deutsche BiographiePlett - Schmidseder
edited by

Walther Killy Walther Killy (26 August 191728 December 1995) was a German literary scholar who specialised in poetry, especially that of Friedrich Hölderlin and Georg Trakl. He taught at the Free University of Berlin, the Georg-August-Universität Göttinge ...

He distinguished himself with research in the fields of

mineralogy Mineralogy is a subject of geology specializing in the scientific study of the chemistry, crystal structure, and physical (including optical) properties of minerals and mineralized artifacts. Specific studies within mineralogy include the proces ...

, crystallography,

analytical chemistry Analytical chemistry studies and uses instruments and methods to separate, identify, and quantify matter. In practice, separation, identification or quantification may constitute the entire analysis or be combined with another method. Separati ...

and

metallurgy Metallurgy is a domain of materials science and engineering that studies the physical and chemical behavior of metallic elements, their inter-metallic compounds, and their mixtures, which are known as alloys. Metallurgy encompasses both the sc ...

. He discovered the reducing action of hypophosphoric and

phosphoric acids Phosphoric may refer to: *Phosphoric acid *Phosphoric anhydride, see phosphorus pentoxide See also *Phosphorus Phosphorus is a chemical element with the symbol P and atomic number 15. Elemental phosphorus exists in two major forms, white ph ...

, and was the first scientist to determine the composition of

Schlippe's salt Sodium thioantimoniate or sodium tetrathioantimonate(V) is an inorganic compound with the formula . The nonahydrate of this chemical, , is known as Schlippe's salt, named after Johann Karl Friedrich von Schlippe (1799–1867), These compounds are e ...

(sodium thioantimonate). In addition, he made significant contributions in research involving

isomorphism In mathematics, an isomorphism is a structure-preserving mapping between two structures of the same type that can be reversed by an inverse mapping. Two mathematical structures are isomorphic if an isomorphism exists between them. The word is ...

. He was the first scientist other than Mendeleyev to include his Periodic Table in a book, the fourth edition (1874) of ''Grundriss der chemie gemäss den neueren Ansichten'', published in Berlin. He described the minerals,

magnesioferrite Magnesioferrite is a magnesium iron oxide mineral, a member of the magnetite series of spinels. Magnesioferrite crystallizes as black metallic octahedral crystals. It is named after its chemical composition of magnesium and ferric iron. The dens ...

and

tachyhydrite Tachyhydrite is an unstable mineral, a hydrous chloride of calcium and magnesium with formula: Ca Mg2 Cl6·12 H2O. It is a rare component of marine evaporite salt deposits. Upon exposure to moist air it rapidly deliquesces and dissolves. It fo ...

Rammelsbergite Rammelsbergite is a nickel arsenide mineral with formula NiAs2. It forms metallic silvery to tin white to reddish orthorhombic prismatic crystals, and is usually massive in form. It has a Mohs hardness of 5.5 and a specific gravity of 7.1. It was ...

, a

nickel arsenide Nickeline or niccolite is a mineral consisting primarily of nickel arsenide (NiAs). The naturally-occurring mineral contains roughly 43.9% nickel and 56.1% arsenic by mass, but composition of the mineral may vary slightly. Small quantities of s ...

mineral, is named after him. He died at Gross Lichterfelde, southwest of Berlin

Published works

Rammelsberg was the author of a series important textbooks, such as: *''Handwörterbuch des chemischen Teils der Mineralogie'' (2 volumes, 1841; supplement 1843–53). *''Lehrbuch der chemischen Metallurgie'' (1850). *''Handbuch der Krystallographischen Chemie'' (1855). *''Handbuch der Mineralchemie'' (1860). *''Handbuch der Krystallographisch-physikalischen Chemie'' (2 volumes, 1881–82),WorldCat Search
(published works) some of the earlier works being incorporated in later and more comprehensive volumes with different titles. He is also credited with providing translations of technical publications that were written in Italian, French and Swedish.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rammelsberg, Karl Friedrich August 1813 births 1899 deaths German mineralogists 19th-century German chemists Members of the Prussian Academy of Sciences Scientists from Berlin People from the Province of Brandenburg Humboldt University of Berlin alumni Humboldt University of Berlin faculty Foreign associates of the National Academy of Sciences Members of the Göttingen Academy of Sciences and Humanities