Alexander Newton Winchell (2 March 1874 - 7 June 1958) was an American geologist who pioneered spectroscopic and X-ray crystallographic studies on minerals. He wrote an influential textbook, the ''Elements of optical mineralogy'' which went into several editions. Winchell was born in Minneapolis to Newton Horace and Charlotte Sophia. He was educated at the University of Minnesota with a BS in 1896 and MS in 1897 under

Charles Peter Berkey Charles Peter Berkey (March 25, 1867-April 22, 1955) was an American geologist, notable as a founder of the discipline of engineering geology, for his work on the great dams of the 1930s, and as chief geologist on the Gobi Desert expeditions in Mo ...

. He then studied in Paris under

Alfred Lacroix Antoine François Alfred Lacroix (4 February 186312 March 1948) was a French mineralogist and geologist. He was born in Mâcon, Saône-et-Loire. Education Lacroix completed a D. s Sc. in Paris in 1889, as student of Ferdinand André Fouqué. F ...

receiving a DSc in 1900. He then joined the

Montana School of Mines Montana Technological University, popularly known as Montana Tech, is a public university in Butte, Montana. Founded in 1900 as the Montana State School of Mines, the university became affiliated with the University of Montana in 1994. After und ...

and later the University of Wisconsin. He worked on applications of X-ray crystallography to mineralogy, working with

Linus Pauling Linus Carl Pauling (; February 28, 1901August 19, 1994) was an American chemist, biochemist, chemical engineer, peace activist, author, and educator. He published more than 1,200 papers and books, of which about 850 dealt with scientific top ...

, W.H. Taylor and W.L. Bragg. He also consulted for the US Geological Survey, the

American Cyanamid American Cyanamid Company was a leading American conglomerate which became one of the nation's top 100 manufacturing companies during the 1970s and 1980s, according to the Fortune 500 listings at the time. It started in fertilizer, but added ...

Company and was a visiting professor at the University of Virginia and Columbia University. Winchell married Clare Edith Christello in 1898 and they had five children, several of whom continued in geology. After the death of Clare in 1932, he married his first cousin once removed Florence Mabel Sylvester (granddaughter of

Alexander Winchell Alexander Winchell (December 31, 1824, in North East, New York – February 19, 1891, in Ann Arbor, Michigan) was a United States geologist who contributed to this field mainly as an educator and a popular lecturer and author. His views on evolu ...

). He received the Roebling medal of the Mineralogical Society of America in 1955.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Winchell, Alexander Newton 1958 deaths 1874 births American geologists Columbia University faculty Montana Technological University faculty United States Geological Survey personnel University of Minnesota alumni University of Virginia faculty University of Wisconsin–Madison faculty