Werner, AG

NAME:  Werner, Abraham Gottlob

ACHIEVEMENT(S):  Helped make geology an area of scientific study; developed a stratification theory

NICKNAME/ALIAS:  None

DATE AND PLACE OF BIRTH:  September 25, 1749, Wehrau, Prussian Silesia, [now Poland]

DATE/PLACE OF DEATH/AGE AT DEATH:  June 30, 1817, Dresden, Germany. Aged 67

DISCIPLINE:  Geologist/ Mineralogist

FIELD:  Geology

LANGUAGE:  German

PARENTS:  Abraham David Werner; Regina Holstein Werner 

SIBLINGS:  Sophia

SPOUSE:  None

CHILDREN:  None

EDUCATION:  Waisenschule, Bunzlau; Bergakademie, Freiberg; University of Leipzig

MAJOR WORK:  "Von der ausserlichen Kennzeichen der Fossilien  (On the external Characteristics of Fossils")

LIFE AND TIMES:

At 25, Werner left the University of Leipzig without a degree, but on the strength of his "Von der ausserlichen Kennzeichen der Fossilien” (On the external Characteristics of Fossils), which presented a new method of describing fossils, he was appointed a lecturer at the Freiberg School of Mines, where he would remain 42 years. 

Acknowledged as a brilliant mineralogist, geologist, and teacher, he attracted students from all over Europe.  Some of his pupils went on to become leading geologists (<taught> Alexander von Humboldt,* <taught> Robert Jameson,* and <taught> Mohs*), while others became philosophers and writers (<taught> Goethe*). 

Unfortunately, despite the reputation he enjoyed among his fellow scientists and students, his geological theories were wrong.  He believed that almost all rocks were formed either by the deposit of sediment or by chemical precipitates of the ocean.  His definition of basalt as aqueous (formed by the action of water) was a point of contention in the geological debates of the late 18th century. 

There were two opposing camps: the Neptunists, supporters of Werner, whom time proved wrong; and the Plutonists (or Huttonians -- followers of <opposed by> Hutton*), who believed that heat (or volcanic action) had caused rock formation, and were proved right.

Though remembered mainly as a key figure in helping to establish geology as a science, Werner also made significant contributions to mineralogy.  He identified minerals not only through their chemical composition but also their visual aspect.  New minerals made their way to Werner's list only when he was completely convinced they were new.  This had a steadying influence on the study of mineralogy.

One important part of Werner's work was his theory of the strata of the earth's crust.  He divided the creation of rocks into five periods: 1) Primary Rocks, precipitated from the water of a universal ocean; 2) the Transition Phase; 3) Flotz, characterized by storms in low standing water); 4) Volcanic Stage; and 5) Recent Stage.  Werner believed the oldest rocks (crystalline, without fossils) had been chemically deposited, while later rocks had been mechanically deposited, formed out of the debris of the first creations, and containing fossils.

ASSESSMENT:  Werner's approach was important for linking the order of the strata of the earth's crust to the history of the earth and in relating mineralogy and to studies of strata

EXTRA CONNECTIONS:  His work influenced that of  geologists <influenced> Scrope*, <influenced> Buckland*, <influenced> Maclure* and <influenced> Saussure*.

ONELINER: AG Werner, early geologist

BIBLIOGRAPHY: 

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