Jules Thurmann (5 November 1804,

Neuf-Brisach Neuf-Brisach ( or , ; , , in contrast to " Old Breisach"; ) is a fortified town and commune of the department of Haut-Rhin in the French region of Alsace. The fortified town was intended to guard the border between France and the Holy Roman E ...

Haut-Rhin Haut-Rhin (); Alsatian: ''Owerelsàss'' or '; , . is a department in the Grand Est region, France, bordering both Germany and Switzerland. It is named after the river Rhine; its name means Upper Rhine. Haut-Rhin is the smaller and less pop ...

, France – 25 July 1855, Porrentruy) was an Alsatian French-Swiss

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

botanist 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 ...

. He studied at the college in Porrentruy, then continued his education at the

University of Strasbourg The University of Strasbourg (, Unistra) is a public research university located in Strasbourg, France, with over 52,000 students and 3,300 researchers. Founded in the 16th century by Johannes Sturm, it was a center of intellectual life during ...

and at the '' École royale des mines'' in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. In 1832 he was appointed professor of mathematics and natural sciences at Porrentruy College.Dictionnaire du Jura
(biography) In 1837 he became the first director of the "normal school" for teachers in Porrentruy. In 1838 he was chairman of the first congress for the ''

Société géologique de France The Société géologique de France (SGF) is a French learned society founded on 17 March 1830. As of 2006, it counts 1,200 members. History At its creation, its statutes indicate is to "compete for the advancement of Earth Sciences and Planets, ...

'', which took place in Porrentruy. He devoted much of his time to geological studies of the

Jura Mountains The Jura Mountains ( ) are a sub-alpine mountain range a short distance north of the Western Alps and mainly demarcate a long part of the French–Swiss border. While the Jura range proper (" folded Jura", ) is located in France and Switzerla ...

, being known for his pioneer investigations in regards to Jurassic orography. In the field of

stratigraphy Stratigraphy is a branch of geology concerned with the study of rock layers (strata) and layering (stratification). It is primarily used in the study of sedimentary and layered volcanic rocks. Stratigraphy has three related subfields: lithost ...

, he introduced in 1834 the term " Neocomian" to define the lowest stage of

Cretaceous The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 143.1 to 66 mya (unit), million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era (geology), Era, as well as the longest. At around 77.1 million years, it is the ...

formation. As a botanist, he conducted phytosociological research,Dictionnaire historique de la Suisse
(biography) and is credited with directing the last phases of development for the

botanical garden A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens. is ...

at Porrentruy. He was the founder of the ''Société de statistique des districts du Jura'' (1832); co-founder and first president of the ''Société jurassienne d'émulation'' (1847–1855) and a member of the ''Grand Conseil bernois'' (1837–1839, 1844–1845). Thurmann

Published works (selection)

* ''Essai sur les soulèvemens jurassiques du Porrentruy'', 1832 – Essay on Jurassic upheavals around Porrentruy. * ''Principes de pédagogie'', 1842 – Principles of

pedagogy Pedagogy (), most commonly understood as the approach to teaching, is the theory and practice of learning, and how this process influences, and is influenced by, the social, political, and psychological development of learners. Pedagogy, taken ...

. * ''Système de géographie botanique'', 1847 – System of

phytogeography Phytogeography (from Greek φυτόν, ''phytón'' = "plant" and γεωγραφία, ''geographía'' = "geography" meaning also distribution) or botanical geography is the branch of biogeography that is concerned with the geographic distribution ...

. * ''Enumération des plantes vasculaires du district de Porrentruy'', 1848 – Enumeration of

vascular plants Vascular plants (), also called tracheophytes (, ) or collectively tracheophyta (; ), are plants that have lignified tissues (the xylem) for conducting water and minerals throughout the plant. They also have a specialized non-lignified tissue ( ...

in the district of Porrentruy. * ''Essai de Phytostatique appliqué à la chaîne du Jura et aux contrées voisines'', 1849 – Essay on applied phytostatics for the Jura chain and neighboring regions. * ''Résumé des lois orographiques générales du système des Monts-Jura'', 1853 – On general orographic laws involving the Jura Mountains.Google Search
published works

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thurmann, Jules 1804 births 1855 deaths People from Haut-Rhin 19th-century Swiss geologists 19th-century Swiss botanists Members of Société géologique de France