Karl Heinrich Rosenbusch

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Harry Rosenbusch

Karl Heinrich Ferdinand Rosenbusch , called Harry Rosenbusch, (born June 24, 1836 in Einbeck , † January 20, 1914 in Heidelberg ) was a German geologist .

Life

Rosenbusch's father, Georg Heinrich Wilhelm Rosenbusch, was an orphanage teacher in Einbeck and died when Harry was seven years old. His mother was still able to send him to the Andreanum grammar school in Hildesheim; In 1855 he began studying classical philology and philosophy in Göttingen, which he was forced to interrupt two years later for financial reasons in order to travel to Brazil and take up a position as private tutor there. In 1862 he returned to Germany, where, after attending a lecture by the chemist Robert Wilhelm Bunsen , he is said to have spontaneously decided to switch to a natural science subject. In 1869 he became a private lecturer for mineralogy after his dissertation and habilitation. In 1871 he was one of the founding members of the Upper Rhine Geological Association . Rosenbusch taught and researched from 1873 to 1877 as a professor of petrography and mineralogy at the University of Strasbourg and then at the Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg . This was, among other things Alexander Fersman among its students. With Rudolf Fuess he developed the first petrographic microscope made in Germany. In 1888 Rosenbusch became the first director of the Grand Ducal Baden Geological State Institute . He appointed Adolf Sauer and Ferdinand Schalch as the first regional geologists .

Scientific work

Petrographic microscope ( Fuess )

Already in his dissertation Rosenbusch used the technique of examination of thin sections for petrographic analysis of rocks. At that time, this technique had only been known in German-speaking countries for a few years, after the Bonn geologist Ferdinand Zirkel first learned it from the English scientist Henry Clifton Sorby and introduced it to the repertoire of methods in petrography. In contrast to Zirkel and his brother-in-law Hermann Vogelsang , whose interests in these early years were initially more focused on the investigation of questions about rock formation using thin-section studies, Rosenbusch recognized the importance of the method for the optical determination of rock-forming minerals and for the possibilities of quantitative analyzes of the Rock composition. Compared to the previously only possibilities for optical examination of rocks with the naked eye or with a magnifying glass, this represented a significant advance and led to the number of scientifically described types of rock multiplied in the following decades. Rosenbusch himself has expressly encouraged such new descriptions and names (quoted from):

"Anyone who finds a new term, or creates it, not only has the right but also the duty to create an expression for the same."

Already early warning voices were voiced that this approach (without the simultaneous introduction of a binding systematics of the rocks) could lead to fragmentation and confusion, but this could not stop the development: In 1898 Rosenbusch already had 242 names for igneous rocks alone where his colleague Ferdinand Zirkel only knew 97 names in 1866, in 1963 there were already around 4,000 names. In many cases these were local names or imaginary names that had no relation to the nature of the rock. The International Union of Geological Sciences is currently trying to reduce this number by introducing recommendations on the systematic nomenclature of igneous and metamorphic rocks.

During his time in Strasbourg, Rosenbusch also did research on metamorphosis ; on him u. a. the distinction between regional and contact metamorphosis. In Heidelberg, investigations into gangue rocks were added as a further focus .

Appreciations

Rosenbusch's grave plaque in the Bergfriedhof in Heidelberg

Works

  • Microscopic physiography of petrographically important minerals
  • The microscopic physiography of the massive rocks
  • Elements of rock theory , Schweitzerbart 1923 (new edition with Alfred Osann )

literature

Web links

Commons : Harry Rosenbusch  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Paul Ramdohr: Harry Rosenbusch . In: H. Freund, A. Berg (Ed.): History of microscopy . tape III . Umschau, Frankfurt 1966, p. 343-348 .
  2. ↑ Harry Rosenbusch: The nephelinite from the cat's hump . Inaugural dissertation, Freiburg i. Br. 1869.
  3. ^ A b Felix Ronner: Systematic Classification of Mass Rocks . Springer, Vienna 1963, p. 344 .
  4. ↑ RW Le Maitre (Ed.): Igneous Rocks. A Classification and Glossary of Terms . 2nd Edition. University Press, Cambridge 2004, ISBN 0-521-61948-3 .
  5. ↑ D. Fettes, J. Desmons (Ed.): Metamorphic Rocks. A Classification and Glossary of Terms . University Press, Cambridge 2011, ISBN 978-0-521-33618-5 .
  6. ↑ Holger Krahnke: The members of the Academy of Sciences in Göttingen 1751-2001 (= Treatises of the Academy of Sciences in Göttingen, Philological-Historical Class. Volume 3, Vol. 246 = Treatises of the Academy of Sciences in Göttingen, Mathematical-Physical Class. Episode 3, vol. 50). Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2001, ISBN 3-525-82516-1 , p. 205.
  7. ^ List of members since 1666: Letter R. Académie des sciences, accessed on February 23, 2020 (French).
personal data
SURNAME Rosenbusch, Karl Heinrich
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Rosenbusch, Karl Heinrich Ferdinand; Rose bush, Harry
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German geologist
DATE OF BIRTH June 24, 1836
PLACE OF BIRTH Einbeck
DATE OF DEATH January 20, 1914
Place of death Heidelberg