Melchior Neumayr

Melchior Neumayr 1881

Melchior Neumayr (born October 24, 1845 in Munich , † January 29, 1890 in Vienna ) was an Austrian paleontologist and was of leading importance in this field in the 19th century.

In Vienna he headed a palaeontological institute as a professor, which is considered the first of its kind in the world. Melchior Neumayr worked in the field of law - and chalk - Ammonites and the freshwater mollusks from the Tertiary and was an early supporter of Darwin's theory of evolution .

Youth, education

Melchior Neumayr was born in Munich in 1845 as the son of the Bavarian State Minister Max von Neumayr . In line with family tradition, Melchior Neumayr began studying law at the University of Munich in 1863 , but soon followed his inclinations towards the natural sciences. There he was a student with Albert Oppel and Carl Wilhelm von Gümbel .

After studying in Heidelberg with Ernst Wilhelm Benecke and Robert Wilhelm Bunsen , he received his doctorate in 1867. phil. in Munich.

Life

From 1868 to 1872 Neumayr was a section geologist at the k. k. Geological Reichsanstalt (GRA) in Vienna. Here he published in the GRA yearbook a description of the Jura formation on the basis of fossil features, including a list of contemporary publications. His habilitation at the University of Heidelberg took place in 1872.

Cephalopods : Perisphinctes patina nov. sp. (left) and Perisphinctes oxyptychus nov. sp. (right), described by Neumayr in JB dkk geolog. Reichsanstalt Vol. XX 1870, Vienna

By ministerial decision of November 20, 1873, the University of Vienna set up a chair in paleontology with administration and collections for this young branch of science. This area is probably the first and therefore the oldest paleontological institute. It was equipped with its own lecture hall and several rooms (Old University, Konviktsgebäude, Bäckerstraße 20).

In the same year, Melchior Neumayr was appointed director of the institute as associate professor for paleontology . In this capacity, he developed a large palaeontological collection from his own collection of fossil specimens, which received great attention under the name “Paleontological University Museum” (name existed until 1903).

Melchior Neumayr took part in the k. k. Ministry of Education by decree of June 2, 1875 decreed a multi-year expedition program, which provided for geological surveys in the "Orient" by forces of the Austrian universities and which was entrusted to its management. Stood by his company Friedrich Teller (1852-1913) and Leo Burgerstein available. Other geologists were involved in this work. The explorations and recording work took him to Greece (e.g. Olymp Mountains), to numerous islands of the Aegean Sea and to today's Turkey .

In 1879 he was appointed full professor of paleontology. In the same year, the wedding took place with Paula, the daughter of his colleague friend Eduard Suess .

The evaluation of the scientific trips in Greece and the Aegean Sea was largely completed in 1880 with a comprehensive publication which he edited. His work was finally recognized by the fact that from 1882 he was appointed a corresponding member of the Imperial Academy of Sciences in Vienna .

Melchior Neumayr died in Vienna in January 1890 as a result of a lung disease.

Services

Much of his research was influenced by the ideas of Darwin's theory of evolution. These aspects have been discussed in detail in his work The Tribes of the Animal Kingdom (Volume 1, Invertebrates) . Charles Darwin in a letter (March 9, 1877) to Neumayr: “Allow me to express my gratitude for the joy and instruction that your book has given me. It seems to me to be an admirable work; and it deals with by far the best case that shows the direct influence of living conditions on the structure of an organism. "

Geological map of the island of Kos in the Aegean Sea, taken by Melchior Neumayr in 1874

His scientific travels took him to Italy , the Alps and Carpathians , Dalmatia , the Balkan Peninsula and the Aegean Sea, and Asia Minor . He examined primarily fossil structures in the sedimentary rocks . Some of this work abroad was connected with systematic geological surveys (mapping work in the field). From these activities, together with the authors Alexander Bittner and Friedrich Teller, the geological overview map of mainland Greece and the island of Euboea on a scale of 1: 400,000 and the geological map of the island of Kos on a scale of approx. 1: 120,000, both printed in 1880 in color published.

Together with Edmund von Mojsisovics , he founded the journal Contributions to the Palaeontology of Austria-Hungary and the Orient in 1880 .

Works and writings (selection)

• Contributions to the knowledge of fossil inland faunas . In: Yearbook of the Imperial Geological Institute, vol. 19, Vienna 1869, pp. 355–382 ( digitized version ; PDF; 2.1 MB)
• Law studies. Second episode . in: Yearbook of the Imperial Geological Institute, vol. 21, Vienna 1871, pp. 297–378 ( digitized version ; PDF; 7.1 MB)
• with Carl Maria Paul : The Congerie and Paludin layers of Slavonia and their faunas . In: Treatises of the Imperial Geological Institute . Vol. 7, Issue No. 3, Vienna 1875. doi: 10.5962 / bhl.title.14331
• The vestments of Chulkovo and the position of the Russian Jura . Munich 1876
• with Franz von Hauer : Guide to the excursions of the German Geological Society after the general meeting in Vienna in 1877 . Vienna (Imperial and Royal Geological Institute) 1877
• Geological investigations over the northern and eastern parts of the Chalkidike peninsula . Vienna (kk Hof- und Staatsdruckerei) 1880
• The geological structure of western central Greece . Vienna (Karl Gerold's son) 1880
• Geological studies in the coastal countries of the Greek archipelago . Vienna (Karl Gerold's son) 1880
• with Edmund Mojsisovics , Edler von Mojsvar: Contributions to the paleontology of Austria-Hungary and the neighboring areas . Vienna (Alfred Hölder) 1880–1882
• On the history of the eastern Mediterranean basin: Lecture given at the Natural Science Association in Vienna on January 30, 1882 . Habel, Berlin 1882 ( digitized version )
• General geology . Leipzig (Bibliographical Institute) 1886.
• with Viktor Uhlig : Earth history . Leipzig (publisher of the Bibliographical Institute) 1886–87
• Geological history . Leipzig (Bibliographical Institute) 1887–1895
• with Edmund Naumann : On the geology and paleontology of Japan . Vienna (kk Hof- und Staatsdruckerei) 1890

literature

• Stjepan Ćorić: The geological exploration of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the fundamental contribution of Austrian geologists . (in: Abh. d. Geol. Bundesanst., Vienna (56/1) 1999, p. 137)
• Karl Edlinger: Melchior Neumayr (1845–1890) - an early evolutionist and Darwinist in Austria . in: Reports of the Federal Geological Institute, Volume 69, Vienna 2006 ISSN  1017-8880
• Meyers Konversations-Lexikon, 12th vol. Leipzig, Vienna (Bibliographical Institute) 1897
• Matthias Svojtka, Johannes Seidl, Michel Coster Heller: Early Thoughts of Evolution in Paleontology. Materials on the correspondence between Charles Robert Darwin and Melchior Neumayr . in: Yearbook of the Federal Geological Institute, Vienna, 149 (2/3), 2009, pp. 357–374 Download (PDF; 3.3 MB)
• Victor Uhlig: Melchior Neumayr: his life and work . in: Yearbook of the Imperial and Royal Geological Institute, vol. 40, Vienna 1891, pp. 1–20 ( digitized version ; PDF; 1.6 MB)
• H. Zapfe:  Neumayr Melchior. In: Austrian Biographical Lexicon 1815–1950 (ÖBL). Volume 7, Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Vienna 1978, ISBN 3-7001-0187-2 , p. 88.

Web links

• Literature by and about Melchior Neumayr in the catalog of the German National Library
• Franz Toula: In memory of Melchior Neumayer, obituary held February 12, 1890 . Association for the dissemination of scientific knowledge. Lectures, XXX. 11. Vienna (PDF; 1.5 MB)
• University of Vienna, Institute for Paleontology, History of the Institute