Prof Ferdinand Zirkel FRS(For) H

FRSE Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and Literature, letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". ...

(20 May 183811 June 1912) 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, ...

and

petrographer Petrography is a branch of petrology that focuses on detailed descriptions of rocks. Someone who studies petrography is called a petrographer. The mineral content and the textural relationships within the rock are described in detail. The classi ...

Biography

Zirkel was born in

Bonn Bonn () is a federal city in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, located on the banks of the Rhine. With a population exceeding 300,000, it lies about south-southeast of Cologne, in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr region. This ...

. Educated in his native town, he graduated

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

from the

University of Bonn The University of Bonn, officially the Rhenish Friedrich Wilhelm University of Bonn (), is a public research university in Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was founded in its present form as the () on 18 October 1818 by Frederick Willi ...

in 1861. His training and initial interest was in mining. In 1860 he traveled to

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

with

William Thierry Preyer William Thierry Preyer or Wilhelm Preyer (4 July 1841 – 15 July 1897) was an English-born biochemist, physiologist and psychologist who worked in Germany. He worked as a professor of physiology at the University of Jena and then at Berlin. Study ...

, and in 1862 they published ''Reise nach Island im Sommer 1860''. After graduation, Zirkel was engaged in teaching

geology Geology (). is a branch of natural science concerned with the Earth and other astronomical objects, the rocks of which they are composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Earth ...

and

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

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

at the Geological Institution. His journey to

, along with travels to the

Faeroe Islands The Faroe Islands ( ) (alt. the Faroes) are an archipelago in the North Atlantic Ocean and an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark. Located between Iceland, Norway, and the United Kingdom, the islands have a population of 54,609 ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

and

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, and a meeting with

Henry Clifton Sorby Henry Clifton Sorby (10 May 1826 – 9 March 1908) was an English amateur microscopist and geologist. His major contribution was the development of techniques for thin sectioning of rocks and minerals with polarized light under a microscope whi ...

, led him from mining to the study of microscopical petrography, then a comparatively new science. He became professor of geology in 1863 in the

University of Lemberg The Ivan Franko National University of Lviv (named after Ivan Franko, ) is a state-sponsored university in Lviv, Ukraine. Since 1940 the university is named after Ukrainian poet Ivan Franko. The university is the oldest institution of higher ...

, in 1868 at the

University of Kiel Kiel University, officially the Christian Albrecht University of Kiel, (, abbreviated CAU, known informally as Christiana Albertina) is a public research university in the city of Kiel, Germany. It was founded in 1665 as the ''Academia Holsator ...

, and in 1870 was made professor of mineralogy and geology in the

University of Leipzig Leipzig University (), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 December 1409 by Frederick I, Electo ...

. He traveled for study in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, and

; came to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

in 1874 to examine the great collections of minerals made during the exploration of the fortieth degree of latitude; and in 1894-95 pursued scientific investigations in

Ceylon Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

and

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. He retired in 1909. He was an honorary

D.Sc. A Doctor of Science (; most commonly abbreviated DSc or ScD) is a science doctorate awarded in a number of countries throughout the world. Africa Algeria and Morocco In Algeria, Morocco, Libya and Tunisia, all universities accredited by the s ...

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

, and also a foreign member of the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

and an honorary member of the Mineralogical Society.

Publications

His numerous papers and essays include ''Geologische Skizze van der Westküste Schottlands'' (1871); ''Die Struktur der Variolite'' (1875); ''Microscopical Petrography'' (in Report of U.S. Geol. Exploration of 40th Par., vol. vi., 1876); ''Limurit aus der Vallée de Lesponne'' (1879); ''Über den Zirkon'' (1880). His separate works include ''Lehrbuch der Petrographie'' (1866; 2nd ed. 1893, 1894); ''Die mikroskopische Beschaffenheit der Mineralien und Gesteine'' (1873); and ''Über Urausscheidungen rheinischer Basalte'' (1893). Seffner Zirkel Bonn

Recognition

* Mount Zirkel in the Park Range of

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

USA The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...

, is named after him. *The mineral

zirkelite Zirkelite is an oxide mineral with the chemical formula . It occurs as well-formed fine sized isometric crystals. It is a black, brown or yellow mineral with a hardness of 5.5 and a specific gravity of 4.7. Name and discovery Zirkelite was first ...

is named after him. *

Dorsum Zirkel image:Dorsum Zirkel AS15-M-1554.jpg, Oblique view of Dorsum Zirkel from Apollo 15, taken at a low sun angle Dorsum Zirkel is a wrinkle ridge at northeast of Mons La Hire in Mare Imbrium on the Moon. It is 193 km long and was named after German ge ...

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.

Notes

References

External links

''Reise nach Island im Sommer 1860, mit wissenschaftlichen Anhängen''
F. A. Brockhaus, 1862 at

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. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Zirkel, Ferdinand 1838 births 1912 deaths 19th-century German geologists Geologists from the Kingdom of Prussia Petrologists Scientists from Bonn Scientists from the Rhine Province University of Bonn alumni Academic staff of the University of Kiel Academic staff of Leipzig University Wollaston Medal winners Foreign members of the Royal Society Foreign associates of the National Academy of Sciences 20th-century German geologists Recipients of the Cothenius Medal