Carl Bernhard von Cotta, known as Bernhard von Cotta (24 October 180814 September 1879), was a German

geologist A geologist is a scientist who studies the structure, composition, and History of Earth, history of Earth. Geologists incorporate techniques from physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics, and geography to perform research in the Field research, ...

Life

He was born in a forester's lodge at Kleine Zillbach,

Meiningen Meiningen () is a town in the southern part of the state of Thuringia, Germany. It is located in the region of Franconia and has a population of around 26,000 (2024).

, near

Eisenach Eisenach () is a Town#Germany, town in Thuringia, Germany with 42,000 inhabitants, west of Erfurt, southeast of Kassel and northeast of Frankfurt. It is the main urban centre of western Thuringia, and bordering northeastern Hesse, Hessian re ...

, the son of Heinrich von Cotta, founder of the Tharandt Forestry Academy near

Dresden Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...

. He was educated first at the Tharnadt Academcy, then at the

Bergakademie Freiberg The Technische Universität Bergakademie Freiberg (abbreviation: TU Bergakademie Freiberg, TUBAF) is a public university of technology with 3,471 students in the city of Freiberg, Saxony, Germany. The university's focuses are exploration, mining ...

and the

University of Heidelberg Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg (; ), is a public university, public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Founded in 1386 on instruction of Pope Urban VI, Heidelberg is List ...

Botany Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

at first attracted him and he was one of the earliest to use the

microscope A microscope () is a laboratory equipment, laboratory instrument used to examine objects that are too small to be seen by the naked eye. Microscopy is the science of investigating small objects and structures using a microscope. Microscopic ...

in determining the structure of

fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserve ...

plants. Later on he gave his attention to geology, to the study of

ore Ore is natural rock or sediment that contains one or more valuable minerals, typically including metals, concentrated above background levels, and that is economically viable to mine and process. The grade of ore refers to the concentration ...

-deposits, of

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

s and

metamorphism Metamorphism is the transformation of existing Rock (geology), rock (the protolith) to rock with a different mineral composition or Texture (geology), texture. Metamorphism takes place at temperatures in excess of , and often also at elevated ...

. He studied deposits of minerals in the Austrian

Alps The Alps () are some of the highest and most extensive mountain ranges in Europe, stretching approximately across eight Alpine countries (from west to east): Monaco, France, Switzerland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Germany, Austria and Slovenia. ...

, Hungary, and

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

. He also examined soils and studied their effects on the geography and history of Germany. From 1842 to 1874 he held the professorship of geology in the ''Bergakademie'' and was regarded as an excellent teacher. He published many important works on geology, including ''Rocks Classified and Described: A Treatise on Lithology'' (translated by Philip Henry Lawrence, 1866), one of the first comprehensive works on the subject issued in the English language, which gave great impetus to the study of rocks in

Britain Britain most often refers to: * Great Britain, a large island comprising the countries of England, Scotland and Wales * The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, a sovereign state in Europe comprising Great Britain and the north-eas ...

. Cotta supported democratic and liberal ideas. In 1848 he was a candidate for the German National Assembly in

Frankfurt am Main Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

, as well as the president of the Patriotic Club in Freiberg. He also contributed to popularizing

Alexander von Humboldt Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich Alexander von Humboldt (14 September 1769 – 6 May 1859) was a German polymath, geographer, natural history, naturalist, List of explorers, explorer, and proponent of Romanticism, Romantic philosophy and Romanticism ...

's ''Kosmos'' work. He also worked with Professor Carl Friedrich Naumann to publish geological maps of the region of

Saxony Saxony, officially the Free State of Saxony, is a landlocked state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, and Bavaria, as well as the countries of Poland and the Czech Republic. Its capital is Dresden, and ...

between 1836 and 1847. He was an early supporter of

Darwinism ''Darwinism'' is a term used to describe a theory of biological evolution developed by the English naturalist Charles Darwin (1809–1882) and others. The theory states that all species of organisms arise and develop through the natural sel ...

. He died in

Freiberg, Saxony Freiberg () is a college town, university and former mining town in Saxony, Germany, with around 41,000 inhabitants. The city lies in the foreland of the Ore Mountains, in the Saxon urbanization axis, which runs along the northern edge of the ...

. His daughter, Alice von Cotta, born in 1842, worked at Bedford College, London, and later as a school principal at the women's school Victoria-Lyceum in Berlin.

Commemorations

* Bernhard-von-Cotta-Straße in Freiberg, the location of the present Bergakadamie Freiberg, Inst. of Geology, is named after him. * The

Dorsum Von Cotta Dorsum Von Cotta is a wrinkle ridge at in Mare Serenitatis on the Moon. It is 183 km long and trends south to north at approximately the lunar 12th parallel. It was named after German geologist Bernhard von Cotta in 1976. To the east of the dor ...

, a

wrinkle ridge A wrinkle ridge is a type of feature commonly found on lunar maria, or basalt plains. These features are low, sinuous ridges formed on the mare surface that can extend for up to several hundred kilometers. Wrinkle ridges are tectonic features ...

on the

Moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It Orbit of the Moon, orbits around Earth at Lunar distance, an average distance of (; about 30 times Earth diameter, Earth's diameter). The Moon rotation, rotates, with a rotation period (lunar ...

, is named after him.

Publications

*''Die Dendrolithen'', 1832 *''Geognostische Karte von Sachsen'', 1832–1845 *''Geognostische Wanderungen'', Bd. 1–2, 1836–1838 *''Anleitung zum Studium der Geologie und Geognosie'', 1839 *''Geognostische Karte von Thüringen'', 1843–1848 *''Gangstudien'', Bd. 1–4, 1850–1862 *''Briefe über Humboldt's Kosmos'', 1848–1860 *''Gesteinslehre'', Bd. 1–2, 1855, 1866 (englisch) *''Lehre von den Flözformationen'', 1856 *''Deutschlands Boden, sein geologischer Bau und dessen Einwirkung auf das Leben des Menschen'', Bd. 1–2, 1854 u. 1858 *''Lehre von den Erzlagerstätten'', Bd.1–2, 1859–1861, 1870 (englisch) *''Katechismus der Geologie'', 1861 *''Geologie der Gegenwart'', 1865 *''Der Altai, sein geologischer Bau und seine Erzlagerstätten'', 1871 *''Geologische Bilder'', 1876

Notes

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cotta, Bernhard von 19th-century German geologists 1808 births 1879 deaths Academic staff of the Freiberg University of Mining and Technology Royal Saxon Academy of Forestry alumni