Alvaro Alonso Barba
Alvaro Alonso Barba , latinized Baeticus, (born November 15, 1569 in Lepe near Huelva , Spain , † around 1661 in Potosí , Bolivia ) was a Spanish clergyman , mining specialist, metallurgist and chemist .
life and work
Barba was on behalf of the Church in Bolivia, where he studied mining and at the same time worked as a priest. He was there in many different places. From 1590 to 1609 he lived in Tarabuco , 1615 in Tiaguanaco ( Pacages Province), was coadjutor of the Church of Chuquisaca in 1625, was in Yulloma in 1630, in 1634 in Yotola in Peru (Province of Lipes) and in 1644 at the St. Bernard Church in Potosi and then Cantor of the Cathedral in Chuquisaca. From 1637 he was subordinate to the President of the Real Audiencia von Charcas , i.e. the provincial administration.
He improved various methods of ore processing, in particular in 1609 a method for extracting gold, silver and copper by boiling with mercury and brine in shallow copper kettles (Pan Amalgamation , Spanish Cazo or Fondo process), which in particular increased the silver yield from Peru. It was faster than the previously used amalgamation process, the patio process, invented in 1554 by Bartolomé de Medina in Pachuca , Mexico, who at the time revolutionized silver mining in the Spanish colonies.
He became famous through his book El arte de los metales from 1640 (published in Madrid), which summarized the knowledge of his time, a modernized version of a useful mountain booklet by the scholar Ulrich Rülein von Calw and detailed minerals and precious stones, ore processing, smelting and Described metallurgy in South America. It appeared in 1676 (under the title Bergbüchlein, in it of the Metals and Minerals Generalia and Origin, as well as divorce is traded ) and in 1726 in German ( A Spanish priest and highly experienced naturalist mountain booklet ) and was also translated into English and French (1751). New editions in Spanish appeared e.g. B. 1729 and 1770.
literature
- Winfried Pötsch u. a. Lexicon of important chemists , Harri Deutsch 1989
- Entry Alonso Barba y Toscano, Alvaro , in Juan Manuel López de Azcona, Ignacio Gonzalez Casasnovas, Esther Ruiz de Castaneda (eds.) Minerio Iberoamericana, Repertorio Bibliografico y Biografico, Volume 3: Biografia Mineros 1492-1892 , 1992
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Biografia Mineros 1492-1892, 1992
- ^ Lexicon of important chemists
- ↑ Gundolf Keil , with the participation of Johannes G. Mayer and Monika Reininger: "a little Leonardo". Ulrich Rülein von Kalbe as a humanist, mathematician, mining scientist and doctor. In: Würzburg specialist prose studies. Contributions to medieval medicine, pharmacy and class history from the Würzburg Medical History Institute [Festschrift Michael Holler]. Edited by Gundolf Keil and edited by Johannes Gottfried Mayer and Christian Naser, Würzburg 1995 (= Würzburg medical historical research , 38), pp. 228–247; here: p. 243 f.
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Barba, Alvaro Alonso |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Spanish mining professional and clergyman |
| DATE OF BIRTH | November 15, 1569 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Lepe |
| DATE OF DEATH | around 1661 |
| Place of death | Potosí , Bolivia |