Friedrich Albert Fallou
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Friedrich Albert Fallou (11 November 1794 – 6 September 1877) was a German lawyer who is considered one of the founders of modern
soil science Soil science is the study of soil as a natural resource on the surface of the Earth including soil formation, soil classification, classification and Soil survey, mapping; Soil physics, physical, Soil chemistry, chemical, Soil biology, biologica ...
. While working as a
lawyer A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters. The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as w ...
and tax assessor, Fallou established himself as an independent scientist and a recognized authority in the
natural history Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...
of farm and forest soil. In 1862, he proposed that
soil Soil, also commonly referred to as earth, is a mixture of organic matter, minerals, gases, water, and organisms that together support the life of plants and soil organisms. Some scientific definitions distinguish dirt from ''soil'' by re ...
was separate in nature from
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, intent on establishing the study of soils as an independent science, Fallou introduced the term pedology ().


Life

Friedrich Albert Fallou came from an aristocratic French
Huguenot The Huguenots ( , ; ) are a Religious denomination, religious group of French people, French Protestants who held to the Reformed (Calvinist) tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, ...
family. He was the son of a
judicial The judiciary (also known as the judicial system, judicature, judicial branch, judiciative branch, and court or judiciary system) is the system of courts that adjudicates legal disputes/disagreements and interprets, defends, and applies the law ...
bailiff A bailiff is a manager, overseer or custodian – a legal officer to whom some degree of authority or jurisdiction is given. There are different kinds, and their offices and scope of duties vary. Another official sometimes referred to as a '' ...
, and spent his childhood in
Rochlitz Rochlitz (; , ) is a major district town (Große Kreisstadt) in the district of Mittelsachsen, in Saxony, Germany. Rochlitz is the head of the "municipal partnership Rochlitz" (Verwaltungsgemeinschaft Rochlitz) with its other members being the mu ...
and Grimma, where he studied at the Gymnasium St. Augustine. He never married. From 1814 to 1817, Fallou studied
jurisprudence Jurisprudence, also known as theory of law or philosophy of law, is the examination in a general perspective of what law is and what it ought to be. It investigates issues such as the definition of law; legal validity; legal norms and values ...
at 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 ...
. From 1818 to 1824, he worked as a lawyer in Colditz. In 1825, he was appointed town clerk of Waldheim and worked as an administrative officer at the City Court, and as a
land value tax A land value tax (LVT) is a levy on the value of land (economics), land without regard to buildings, personal property and other land improvement, improvements upon it. Some economists favor LVT, arguing it does not cause economic efficiency, ec ...
assessor. His interest in nature led him to study soils as an
independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...
. He also wrote geographic descriptions of Saxon regions and towns, which he published in the journal "Saxonia" under the pseudonym "Baldwin from Eichberg". In 1833, he resigned as city clerk and again ran a practice as a lawyer and worked as a land evaluator until 1850. After that, Fallou devoted himself almost exclusively to geological, mineralogical, and pedological studies. In 1856, he moved to the Diedenmühle near Waldheim in Saxony, living here as an independent scientist until his death.


Work

Working in soil evaluation for most of his professional life, Fallou became concerned with the declining
soil quality Soil quality refers to the condition of soil based on its capacity to perform ecosystem services that meet the needs of human and non-human life.Tóth, G., Stolbovoy, V. and Montanarella, 2007. Soil Quality and Sustainability Evaluation - An integ ...
in his region and developed a passionate interest in soil. In the 1830s, Fallou conducted geological, petrographic and mineralogical studies as an
independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...
. He had a particular interest in the granulite geology near
Prachatice Prachatice (; ) is a town in the South Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 11,000 inhabitants. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected as an Cultural monument (Czech Republic)#Monument reservations, urban monumen ...
on the eastern edge of the
Bohemian Forest The Bohemian Forest, known in Czech as () and in German as , is a low mountain range in Central Europe. Geographically, the mountains extend from Plzeň Region and the South Bohemian Region in the Czech Republic to Austria and Bavaria in Germ ...
. In the years after 1840, he devoted his time to the origin of agricultural and forest soils. His first major publication was a description of the rock formations of Muldengaues and their influence on vegetation, published in 1845. It received an award from the Princely Jablonowski'schen Society in
Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...
. In 1853, he published his book "The
arable land Arable land (from the , "able to be ploughed") is any land capable of being ploughed and used to grow crops.''Oxford English Dictionary'', "arable, ''adj''. and ''n.''" Oxford University Press (Oxford), 2013. Alternatively, for the purposes of a ...
s of the
Kingdom of Saxony The Kingdom of Saxony () was a German monarchy in Central Europe between 1806 and 1918, the successor of the Electorate of Saxony. It joined the Confederation of the Rhine after the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, later joining the German ...
", with a second edition in 1855. Through numerous study trips in Saxony and neighboring countries, Fallou recognized the need to make soil science knowledge applicable to agriculture and forestry. In his two books "First Principles of Soil Science" (1857, 2nd ed. 1865) and "Pedology or General and Special Soil Science" (1862), he developed his collected field observations of soil into a systematic approach. He explained why soil formation was worthy of study and appealed for recognition of soil science as a discipline. In the 1862 work, he presented a proposal for soil profile description, discussed the physical and chemical properties of soils, and proposed a classification of soils based on mineral properties. Based on these two works, Fallou is prominently mentioned as the first among the founders of modern soil science. Fallou's subsequent works were "The land of the Kingdom of Saxony and its surroundings ..." (1869) and "The main soil types of the North and
Baltic Baltic may refer to: Peoples and languages *Baltic languages, a subfamily of Indo-European languages, including Lithuanian, Latvian and extinct Old Prussian *Balts (or Baltic peoples), ethnic groups speaking the Baltic languages and/or originatin ...
countries of the
German Empire The German Empire (),; ; World Book, Inc. ''The World Book dictionary, Volume 1''. World Book, Inc., 2003. p. 572. States that Deutsches Reich translates as "German Realm" and was a former official name of Germany. also referred to as Imperia ...
scientifically considered" (1875). These, along with several articles published in Julius Adolph Stöckhardt's magazine ''Zeitschrift für deutsche Landwirthe'' (Journal for German farmers), gained him recognition for his scientific advancements.
Vasily Dokuchaev Vasily Vasilyevich Dokuchaev (; 1 March 1846 – 8 November 1903) was a Russian geologist and geographer who is credited with laying the foundations of soil science. The Ukrainian city of Dokuchaievsk is named after him. Overview V ...
(1846-1903) was more influential than Fallou, however, in the years closely following Dokuchaev's death, Fallou was regarded as the founder of modern soil science by Dokuchaev's student, the influential Russian pedologist Konstantin Dmitrievich Glinka (1867-1927). Fallou's historical status as founder is supported by Moscow soil scientist and bibliographer of Russian soil science, Arseny Yarilov, Editor of Pochvovedenie (meaning soil science). Yarilov titled his 1904 article about Fallou in Pochvovedenie ''Friedrich Albert Fallou, Founder of Soil Science''.


Quotes

*''Die naturwiſſenſchaftliche Bodenkunde (Pedologie) iſt eine Naturbeſchreibung des Bodens ohne Rückſicht auf ſein Verhältniß zur Pflanzenwelt, und ohne ſich dabei um ſeine Nutzanwendung zu gewerblichen Zwecken zu kümmern.'' **The science of soil science (pedology) is a natural description of the soil regardless of its relation to the plant world, and without worrying about its utility for commercial purposes. *''Die landwirthſchaftliche Bodenkunde (Agrologie) iſt die Kenntniß des Bodens in ſeiner Beziehung zur Pflanze und landwirthſchaftlichen Nutzung. Sie hat es blos mit dem urbaren, oder zum Landbau geeigneten Boden zu thun und iſt inſofern gewiſſermaßen eine Lithurgik des Bodens, denn um nutzbare Pflanzen darauf zu erzielen, muß er erſt künſtlich zugerichtet werden, er geſtattet keine unmittelbare Verwendung, wie der Brnchſtein zum Hausbau.'' **Agricultural soil science (agrology) is the knowledge of the soil in its relation to the plant and agricultural use. It has only to do with arable land suitable for agriculture, and in a way of speaking it is a kind of liturgy of the soil, for in order to grow usable plants upon it, it must first be artificially prepared; it does not permit any direct use, as brunchstone does for building a house. *''Es giebt ja in der ganzen Natur keinen wichtigeren, keinen der Betrachtung würdigeren Gegenstand und wenn ein berühmter Philosoph und Staatsmann der Vorzeit (Cic. de off. I. 42.) den Ackerbau für das würdigste Geschäft eines freien Bürgers erklärt, so muß es auch ein ebenso würdiges Geschäft für ihn sein, sich mit dem Boden bekannt zu machen, ohne welchen kein Ackerbau denkbar.'' **There is no more important object in nature, no object more worthy of contemplation, and if a famous philosopher and statesman of the past declares agriculture to be the worthy business of a free citizen (Cic. de off. I. 42.) it would also be an equally worthy business for him to get acquainted with the soil, without which agriculture is not conceivable. ***''Omnium autem rerum, ex quibus aliquid adquiritur, nihil est agri cultura melius, nihil uberius, nihil dulcius, nihil homine libero dignius.'' ****"For of all gainful professions, nothing is better, nothing more pleasing, nothing more delightful, nothing better becomes a well-bred man than agriculture." *****
Cicero Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, orator, writer and Academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises tha ...
''De officiis (On Dutiable Action)''. Book I, Section 42. Translation by Cyrus R. Edmonds (1873), p. 73 *''Hat ſich überhaupt die Naturforſchung bisher nicht blos auf jene Naturproducte beſchränkt, welche das wahre, oder eingebildete Bedürfniß der Menſchen befriedigen, ſondern über das ganze ungezählte Heer der Weſen erſtreckt, ſo kann auch der Boden, die Geburtsſtätte und erſte Grundbedingung ſo vieler Weſen, für den Naturforſcher keine unwürdige Aufgabe ſeiner Unterſuchung ſein. Bietet ihm doch dieſer todte Trümmerſchutt, dieſer, jetzt unter einem Teppich wallender Saaten verhüllte große Felsruine nicht weniger Stoff zum Nachdenken dar, als die unter ihr begrabenen Reliquien der Vorwelt, die verſteinerten Skelette ausgeſtorbener Their und Pflanzengeſchlechter. Grund- und Deckengebirge liegen vor uns, wie eine Sphinx, welche uns zu rathen aufgiebt, und wen ſollte es nicht freuen, wenn er eines ihrer Räthſel löſen kann?'' **So far natural science has not confined itself only to those natural products which satisfy the true or imagined needs of men but extend over the whole innumerable host of beings; thus the soil, the birthplace, and the first basic condition of so many beings, can be a worthy task of a naturalist's investigation. But this dead rubble, this great rock ruin, now shrouded under a carpet of billowing seeds, offers no less food for thought than the relics of the previous world buried beneath it, the petrified skeletons of extinct animals and plant species. Ground and vaulted mountains stand before us, like a sphinx, inviting us to guess, and who should not rejoice if he can solve one of their riddles? Note: all quotes from ''Pedology or General and Special Soil Science'', Dresden 1862

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Works

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Notes


External links


Pedologie oder allgemeine und besondere Bodenkunde
(1862) {{DEFAULTSORT:Fallou A 1794 births 1877 deaths 19th-century German lawyers German agronomists 19th-century German geologists German soil scientists Leipzig University alumni Scientists from Saxony-Anhalt People from the Kingdom of Saxony People from Waldheim, Saxony People from Zörbig