earth science

Wilhelm Karl Ritter von Haidinger

Wilhelm Karl Ritter von Haidinger is a earth science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Wilhelm Karl Ritter von Haidinger rather than just read about it. In short: Wilhelm Karl Haidinger (5 February 1795 – 19 March 1871), ennobled as Wilhelm Ritter von Haidinger in 1864, was an Austrian mineralogist. Early life Haidinger's father was the mineralogist Karl Haidinger (1756–1797), who died when Wilhelm was only two years old.

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Reference excerpt

Wilhelm Karl Haidinger (5 February 1795 – 19 March 1871), ennobled as Wilhelm Ritter von Haidinger in 1864, was an Austrian mineralogist.

Early life Haidinger's father was the mineralogist Karl Haidinger (1756–1797), who died when Wilhelm was only two years old. The books on mineralogy and the collection of rocks and minerals of his father almost certainly had raised the interest of young Wilhelm. The collection of his uncle, banker Jakob Friedrich van der Nüll, was by far larger and much more precious, even to such a degree that famous professor Friedrich Mohs of Freiberg (Germany) had been asked to describe it in detail. Young Wilhelm Haidinger and the professor often met in the house of Wilhelm's uncle. After completing the Normalschule and the Grammatikalschule, Wilhelm started out his preacademical training at the local Gymnasium. However, after completing only his first year, the Humanitätsclasse, Wilhelm (now 17 years old) was asked by professor Friedrich Mohs to join him as his assistant at the newly founded Universalmuseum Joanneum in Graz.

Scientific career During the next five years in Graz and the following six years in Freiberg, Wilhelm Haidinger remained a devoted assistant and admirer of professor Friedrich Mohs. During these years Haidinger became more and more involved in scientific work. In 1821 Wilhelm Haidinger published his first scientific paper: "On the crystallisation of copper-pyrites" in the Memoirs of the Wernerian Natural History Society (Edinburgh), volume 4, pp. 1–18. This paper formed the start of a grand total of some 350 scientific publications, all of which are listed in volume 3 of the Catalogue of Scientific Papers (1800–1863) and volume 10 of the same catalogue for the years 1864–1883. Apart from all these papers, Wilhelm Haidinger published several books: Anfangsgründe der Mineralogie, an account on the collection of the "k. k. Hofkammer im Münz- und Bergwesen"; a review of mineralogical research (which grew into a well-known series edited by Gustav Adolph Kenngott); his Handbuch der bestimmenden Mineralogie; an atlas to this textbook on mineralogy and the first complete geological map of Austria-Hungary. In 1822, Wilhelm Haidinger accompanied August Graf von Breunner-Enckevoirt (1796–1877) on a six-month trip; they traveled from Linz to Munich, Basel, Paris, London, and Edinburgh. In Edinburgh, banker Thomas Allan provided Haidinger with the means to translate Mohs' Grundriss der Mineralogie into English. (The translation appeared in 1823 in three volumes: Treatise on Mineralogy.) In 1823, Haidinger left Freiberg to resettle in Edinburgh, where he stayed until the summer of 1825. In Edinburgh, Haidinger met mineralogists Robert Jameson and Robert Ferguson of Raith, geologist James Hall, chemists Thomas Thomson and Edward Turner, and physicist David Brewster. The years in Edinburgh are among Haidinger's most productive: The translation of the comprehensive textbook by Mohs appeared in print and 33 scientific papers were written and published (in, for example, The Edinburgh Journal of Science of David Brewster and in the Philosophical Journal of Robert Jameson). While in Edinburgh Haidinger's friend Pierre Berthier named a new mineral (an iron antimony sulfide) "Haidingérite".

Return to Austria

A long journey with Robert Allan (the son of Thomas Allan) in 1825 and 1826 brought Wilhelm Haidinger to Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Austria, and northern Italy. He spent the winter months of 1825 and 1826 in the highest scientific circles of Berlin, where he met, for example, Gustav Rose and Heinrich Rose, Friedrich Wöhler, Eilhard Mitscherlich, Heinrich Gustav Magnus, and Johann Christian Poggendorff. In the spring of 1826, the journey was continued and visits to Friedrich Mohs in Freiberg, to Johann Friedrich Ludwig Hausmann and Friedrich Stromeyer in Göttingen, Hermann von Meyer in Frankfurt, Carl Cäsar Ritter von Leonhard and Leopold Gmelin in Heidelberg, Christian Gmelin and Franz von Kobell in Munich, and Franz Xaver Riepl in Vienna completed their trip. In 1827, Wilhelm Haidinger returned to Austria and became one of the directors of the Erste (böhmische) Porzellan-Industrie Aktien Gesellschaft (Epiag) in Elbogen (now Loket, Czech Republic). Working in the ceramics factory owned by his brothers Eugen and Rudolf did not prevent Wilhelm from continuing his mineralogical research and writing scientific papers.From 1827 to 1840, Haidinger published some 24 papers (according to the Catalogue of Scientific Papers), which appeared in such well-known journals as Poggendorff's Annalen and the Zeitschrift für Physik. One of the papers described the occurrence of fossil plants in the brown coal and sandstones of the surroundings of Elbogen (Loket). In 1840, Haidinger moved to Vienna to succeed his tutor Friedrich Mohs as director of the mineralogical collection of the Kaiserlich-Königlichen Hofkammer im Münz- und Bergwesen. How much Haidinger devoted himself to science in general is evident from the fact that he founded a nongovernmental scientific society: the Freunde der Naturwissenschaften in Wien. Becker, in 1871, recalled how Haidinger had been able to organize his scientific society in spite of serious opposition from the Austrian police. Haidinger, founder and president of the Freunde der Naturwissenschaften in Wien undertook to publish its proceedings from 1840 to 1850. The last meeting of the Freunde der Naturwissenschaften in Wien took place on 29 November 1850. After that, the learned society ceased to exist. In addition to his work on the collections of the mineralogical museum and his lectures on mineralogy and geology to young mining engineers, Haidinger found the time to continue his own research and published some 105 papers from 1849 to 1860.

Dolomitization Haidinger's scientific work became increasingly concentrated on the phenomenon of "pseudomorphosis", that is, minerals that have taken up the outer aspect of another mineral. For example, anhydrite would have changed into gypsum, but the original cleavage planes and crystal habitus would give the impression of anhydrite. Another example given by Haidinger was that of calcium carbonate, which would readily change into calcium magnesium carbonate (dolomite). In his own words:

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Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Wilhelm Karl Ritter von Haidinger

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Wilhelm Karl Ritter von Haidinger claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In earth science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Wilhelm Karl Ritter von Haidinger before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Wilhelm Karl Ritter von Haidinger ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Wilhelm Karl Ritter von Haidinger

In research: Wilhelm Karl Ritter von Haidinger appears in earth science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Wilhelm Karl Ritter von Haidinger in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Wilhelm Karl Ritter von Haidinger is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1795 births, 1871 deaths, Burials at the Vienna Central Cemetery, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Wilhelm Karl Ritter von Haidinger outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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Frequently asked questions

What is Wilhelm Karl Ritter von Haidinger in simple terms?

Wilhelm Karl Haidinger (5 February 1795 – 19 March 1871), ennobled as Wilhelm Ritter von Haidinger in 1864, was an Austrian mineralogist. Early life Haidinger's father was the mineralogist Karl Haidinger (1756–1797), who died when Wilhelm was only two years old.

Why does Wilhelm Karl Ritter von Haidinger matter?

Because it connects several earth science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Wilhelm Karl Ritter von Haidinger?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Wilhelm Karl Ritter von Haidinger.