Johann von Charpentier

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Johann von Charpentier

Johann von Charpentier (born December 8, 1786 in Freiberg , Kursachsen ; † September 12, 1855 in Bex , Canton of Vaud , Switzerland ) was a German-Swiss geologist and glacier researcher . He was also a botanist and zoologist. Its official botanical author abbreviation is “ Charpent. "

life and work

Charpentier, who also called himself Jean de Charpentier , was the son of the famous mining engineer Johann Friedrich Wilhelm von Charpentier and the brother of Toussaint von Charpentier . Like his father, he studied mining with Abraham Gottlob Werner at the Bergakademie Freiberg , later worked in copper mines in the Pyrenees and was then appointed to the post of salt mine director in Bex in 1813. He also gave lectures on geology at the Lausanne Academy .

A geological map of the Pyrenees comes from him (Essai sur la constitution geognostique des Pyrenees, par J. de Charpentier ... Avec une planche et une carte geognostique des Pyrenees 1823).

Geological map of the Pyrenees

When a glacial lake broke through in 1818 and many people died as a result, he turned to glacier science. Mainly through his study of the erratic blocks and the moraines , he hypothesized that the glaciers used to be much larger. The Charpentier pyramid , a mountain in Coatsland , East Antarctica , was named in his honor in 1971 .

In 1841 his work Essais sur les glaciers was published , which still arouses admiration today for its sharpness of observation and the clarity of the presentation. With this work, the theory of earlier glaciation of large parts of Switzerland with all its effects such as moraine deposits and block entrainment has been scientifically proven far into the foothills of the Alps. He gained his knowledge together with Ignaz Venetz (1788–1859), whose contribution he has always recognized in his publications.

In contrast to Karl Friedrich Schimper (and Louis Agassiz ), Charpentier took the view that glaciation only occurred after the Alps had risen.

Charpentier was also known as a botanist and zoologist. He had an extensive collection of plants, insects and conchylia , most of which were later brought to Lausanne.

In 1845 he was elected an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh .

literature

  • Wilhelm von Gümbel :  Charpentier, Johann von . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 4, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1876, p. 107 f.
  • Erich Krenkel :  Charpentier, Johann von. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 3, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1957, ISBN 3-428-00184-2 , p. 193 f. ( Digitized version ).
  • Tobias Krüger, "The Discovery of the Ice Ages: International Reception and Consequences for Understanding Climate History", Basel 2008, pp. 186–203, 207, 216–224.
  • Tobias Krüger, "On the way to a new understanding of climate history: the Alpine region and the beginnings of ice age research", in: Blätter aus der Walliser Geschichte (Geschichtsforschender Verein Oberwallis) XLI, Brig 2009, pp. 123–160, 143–154.
  • Tobias Krüger "Jean de Charpentier as the tragic pioneer of a scientific upheaval", in Patrick Kupper, C. Bernhard Schär (ed.), Die Naturforschenden. In search of knowledge about Switzerland and the world, 1800–2015. Baden, Hier und Jetzt, 2015, ISBN 978-3-03919-338-7 , pp. 17–33.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Fellows Directory. Biographical Index: Former RSE Fellows 1783–2002. Royal Society of Edinburgh, accessed October 16, 2019 .
personal data
SURNAME Charpentier, Johann von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Charpentier, Jean de
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German geologist
DATE OF BIRTH December 8, 1786
PLACE OF BIRTH Freiberg
DATE OF DEATH September 12, 1855
Place of death Bex , Switzerland