Valentine Ball

Valentine Ball ( CB ) (born July 14, 1843 in Dublin , † June 15, 1895 ibid) was an Irish geologist , zoologist and museum director.

Valentine Ball

Life

Valentine Ball was a son of the naturalist Robert Ball (1802-1857) and brother of the astronomer Robert Stawell Ball . He studied at Trinity College in his hometown of Dublin from 1857 to 1864 , but initially did not finish his studies with the usual degrees (it was not until 1872 that he caught up with the BA and MA exams). From 1860–1864 he worked as a clerk at the receiver's master office in Dublin.

From 1864 to 1881 Ball was a member of the organization responsible for the geological exploration of India , the Geological Survey of India . He was mainly responsible for the exploration of coal deposits and other economically important issues. In the course of his work, he discovered several coal deposits in central India and proposed an optimal rail link between Calcutta and Bombay to the British government. In India, however, he dealt not only with geological issues, but also with ornithology and anthropology . In particular, he researched the habitat of the Indian jungle .

In 1881 he was appointed professor of geology and mineralogy at Trinity College, Dublin. In 1883 he moved to the post of director of the educational institutions spun off from the Royal Dublin Society: thus he was director of the National Library of Ireland , the National Botanic Garden , and the Science and arts museum (now the National Museum of Ireland ). He was particularly interested in the museum, for which Ball's engagement had not even laid the foundation. Until his retirement for health reasons in 1895, he was its director.

Valentine Ball had been married to Mary Ball, née Stewart-Moore, since 1879. The couple had five children. Ball died in 1895 at the age of 51.

Memberships and honors

• Member of the Royal Irish Academy (MRIA)
• Fellow of the Geological Society of London , 1874
• Honorary Fellow of the University of Calcutta, 1875
• Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS), 1882
• Honorary Doctor of Law (LL. D.), Trinity College Dublin, 1889
• Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB), 1891

Works (selection)

• Junge life in India, or the journey and journals of an Indian geologist , 1879
• The diamonds, coal, and gold of India: occurence and distribution , 1881
• Travels in India by Jean Baptiste Tavernier (Editor, 1889)
• numerous articles in the publications of the Geological Survey of India and the Royal Irish Academy, e.g. B .:
  • A Description of two large spinel rubies, with Persian characters engraved upon them in Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy (1894), Third Series, Vol. 3, No. 3, pp. 380–400 ( full text )

Web links

Commons : Valentine Ball  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Entry to ball; Valentine (1843-1895) in the Archives of the Royal Society , London