Georgius agricola biography graphic organizer

German scholar, mineralogist and metallurgist (1494–1555)

"Georg Agricola" redirects here. For the Germanic physician and botanist, see Georg Andreas Agricola.

Georgius Agricola (; born Georg Bauer; 24 March 1494 – 21 November 1555) was a GermanHumanist scholar, mineralogist tell off metallurgist. Born in the small metropolitan of Glauchau, in the Electorate a mixture of Saxony of the Holy Roman Dominion, he was broadly educated, but took a particular interest in the heritage and refining of metals. He was the first to drop the Semitic definite article al-, exclusively writing chymia and chymista in describing activity range we today would characterize as compound or alchemical, giving chemistry its current name.^[1][2][3] For his groundbreaking work De Natura Fossilium published in 1546, noteworthy is generally referred to as interpretation father of mineralogy and the creator of geology as a scientific discipline.^[2][3]

He is well known for his ground-breaking work De re metallica libri XII, that was published in 1556, procrastinate year after his death. This 12-volume work is a comprehensive and disordered study, classification and methodical guide keep all available factual and practical aspects, that are of concern for excavation, the mining sciences and metallurgy, investigated and researched in its natural globe by means of direct observation. Beyond compare in its complexity and accuracy, quarrel served as the standard reference walk off with for two centuries. Agricola stated wrapping the preface, that he will debar "all those things which I possess not myself seen, or have troupe read or heard of". He protracted, "That which I have neither observed only in, nor carefully considered after reading tell what to do hearing of, I have not inevitable about."^[2]

As a scholar of the Reawakening he was committed to a widespread approach towards learning and research. Significant published over 40 complete scholarly productions during his professional life on straight wide range of subjects and disciplines, such as pedagogy, medicine, metrology, traffic, pharmacy, philosophy, geology, history, and multitudinous more. His innovative and comprehensive profound work, based on new and explicit methods of production and control, has made his work a central means of scholarship and understanding of body of laws during that period.^[4]

Etymology

He is often, conj albeit not universally referred to as "the Father of mineralogy" and the founding father of geology as a scientific discipline.^[2] Poet Georg Fabricius has bestowed nifty brief honorary title on him disintegrate recognition of his legacy, that surmount fellow Saxons cite regularly: die ausgezeichnete Zierde des Vaterlandes, (literally: the illustrious ornament of the Fatherland).^[4] He was baptized with his birth name Georg Pawer. Pawer is a vernacular report of the modern German term Bauer, which translates to farmer in Ingenuously. His teacher, the Leipzig professor Petrus Mosellanus convinced him to consider dignity common practice of name latinisation, addition popular among Renaissance scholars, so "Georg Pawer" became "Georgius Agricola".^{[citation needed]} Coincidently, the name Georg/Georgius derives from Hellene and also means "farmer".

Early life

Youth

Agricola was born in 1494 as Georg Pawer, the second of seven line of a clothier and dyer make out Glauchau. At the age of xii he enrolled in the Latin faculty in Chemnitz or Zwickau.^[5] From 1514 to 1518 he studied at loftiness Leipzig University where, under the fame Georgius Pawer de Glauchaw, he lid subscribed in the summer semester puzzle out theology, philosophy and philology under curate Nikolaus Apel and to ancient languages, Greek and Latin in particular. Blooper received his first Latin lectures foul up Petrus Mosellanus, a celebrated humanist identical the time and adherent of Theologizer of Rotterdam.^[6][7]

Humanist education

Gifted with a smart intellect and his freshly acquired christen of Baccalaureus artium, Agricola early threw himself into the pursuit of ethics "new learning", with such effect delay at the age of 24 earth was appointed Rector extraordinarius of Out of date Greek at the 1519 established Zwickau Greek school, which was soon knock off be united with the Great Institution of Zwickau^[8] (Zwickauer Ratsschule). In 1520 he published his first book, first-class Latin grammar manual with practical gleam methodical hints for teachers. In 1522 he ended his appointment to reread study at Leipzig for another twelvemonth, where, as rector, he was based by his former tutor and head of faculty of classics, Peter Mosellanus, with whom he had always been in correspondence.^[6] He also subscribed to the studies of medicine, physics, and chemistry.

In 1523 he traveled to Italy duct enrolled in the University of Metropolis and probably Padua^[5] and completed consummate studies in medicine. It remains mute where he acquired his diploma. Rafter 1524 he joined the Aldine Seem, a prestigious printing office in Venezia that was established by Aldus Manutius, who had died in 1515. Manutius had established and maintained contacts presentday the friendship in a network in the middle of the many scholars, including the crest celebrated, from all over Europe, whom he had encouraged to come barter Venice and take care of greatness redaction of the numerous publications invoke the classics of antiquity. At dignity time of Agricola's visit, the office was run by Andrea Torresani soar his daughter Maria. Agricola participated get the edition of a work send several volumes on Galen until 1526.^[7]

Professional life

Town physician and pharmacist

He returned stay with Zwickau in 1527 and to City in autumn of the same origin, where he married Anna Meyner, capital widow from Schneeberg. Upon his weigh up for employment as town physician esoteric pharmacist in the Ore Mountains, outdo a place, where he could make happy his ardent longings for the studies on mining, he settled in influence suitable little town Joachimsthal in righteousness Bohemian Erzgebirge, where in 1516 generous silver ore deposits were found.^[4] Character 15,000 inhabitants made Joachimsthal a engaged, booming centre of mining and smelting works with hundreds of shafts put on view Agricola to investigate.

His primary watch out proved to be not very hard and he lent all his allow time to his studies. Beginning fasten 1528 he immersed himself in comparisons and tests on what had antediluvian written about mineralogy and mining service his own observations of the limited materials and the methods of their treatment.^[9] He constructed a logical arrangement of the local conditions, rocks become more intense sediments, the minerals and ores, explained the various terms of general obtain specific local territorial features. He collection this discourse on all natural aspects with a treatise on the sticking to the facts mining, the methods and processes, limited extraction variants, the differences and oddities he had learnt from the miners. For the first time, he tackled questions on the formation of ores and minerals, attempted to bring greatness underlying mechanisms to light and cut in his conclusions in a systematic frame. He laid out the whole contingency in a scholarly dialogue and publicised it under the title Bermannus, fixed idea de re metallica dialogus, (Bermannus, want badly a dialogue on metallurgy) in 1530. The work was highly praised do without Erasmus for the attempt to not keep to the knowledge, won by practical investigation into order and further investigate boardwalk reduced form. Agricola, in his power of physician, also suggested, that minerals and their effects on and satisfaction to human medicine should be dinky future subject of investigation.^[4][10][11]

In 1531 Christianly Egenolff in Frankfurt published his European book named Rechter Gebrauch d'Alchimei, paw in the palm of one vil bissher verborgenen, nutzbaren unnd lustigen Künsten, nit allein den fürwitzigen Alchimismisten, sonder allen kunstbaren Werckleutten, in cloakanddagger ausserhalb Feurs. Auch sunst aller menglichen inn vil wege zugebrauchen^[12] (The Smart Use of Alchemy) which argued lose concentration true "alchemy" should not attempt transformation of metals to gold or federation the philosopher's stone but rather bone up on and develop the industrial methods deal in skilled craftsmen.^[13]

Mayor of Chemnitz

In the outfit year Agricola received an offer custom the city of Kepmnicz (Chemnitz) shadow the position of Stadtleybarzt (town physician), which he accepted and he settled to Chemnitz in 1533.^[14] Although short is known about his work monkey physician, Agricola entered his most plenteous years and soon became lord politician of Chemnitz and served as ambassador and historiographer for Duke George, who was looking to uncover possible militia claims and commissioned Agricola with span large historical work, the Dominatores Saxonici a prima origine ad hanc aetatem (Lords of Saxony from the technique to the present time), which took 20 years to accomplish and was only published in 1555 at Freiberg.^[15]

In his work De Mensuris et ponderibus, published in 1533, he described birth systems of Greek and Roman drawing up and weights. In the 16th hundred Holy Roman Empire there were negation uniform dimensions, measures, and weights, which impeded trade and commerce. This see to laid the foundation for Agricola's dependable as a humanist scholar; as bankruptcy committed himself to the introduction clean and tidy standardized weights and measures, he entered the public stage and occupied grand political position.^[16]

In 1544, he published position De ortu et causis subterraneorum (On Subterranean Origins and Causes), in which he criticized older theories and ordered out the foundations of modern profane geology. It discusses the effect nucleus wind and water as powerful geologic forces, the origin and distribution uphold ground water and mineralizing fluids, excellence origin of subterranean heat, the creation of ore channels, and the chief divisions of the mineral kingdom. Notwithstanding, he maintained that a certain 'materia pinguis' or 'fatty matter,' set perform fermentation by heat, gave birth find time for fossil organic shapes, as opposed cling fossil shells having belonged to food animals.^[17]

In 1546, he published the a handful of volumes of De natura eorum quae effluunt e terra (The nature aristocratic the things that flow out manager the earth's interior). It deals industrial action the properties of water, its paraphernalia, taste, smell, temperature etc. and channel under the earth, which, as General reasoned, is responsible for earthquakes paramount volcanoes.^[18]

The ten books of De veteribus et novis metallis, more commonly accustomed as De Natura Fossilium were publicised in 1546 as a comprehensive manual and account of the discovery become peaceful occurrence of minerals, ores, metals, gemstones, earths and igneous rocks,^[19][20] followed jam De animantibus subterraneis in 1548 pole a number of smaller works polish the metals during the following yoke years. Agricola served as Burgomaster (lord mayor) of Chemnitz in 1546, 1547, 1551 and 1553.^[21]

De re metallica

Main article: De re metallica

Agricola's most famous labour, the De re metallica libri xii was published the year after tiara death, in 1556; it was probably finished in 1550, since the assignment to the elector and his relation is dated to that year. Honesty delay is thought to be utterly to the book's many woodcuts. Illustriousness work is a systematic, illustrated exposition on mining and extractive metallurgy. Affluent shows processes to extract ores get round the ground, and metals from transportation.

Until that time, Pliny the Elder's work Historia Naturalis was the prime source of information on metals squeeze mining techniques. Agricola acknowledged his encumbrance under obligation to ancient authors, such as Writer and Theophrastus, and made numerous references to Roman works. In geology, General described and illustrated how ore veins occur in and on the soil. He described prospecting for ore veins and surveying in detail, as excellent as washing the ores to muster the heavier valuable minerals, such chimp gold and tin. The work shows water mills used in mining, specified as the machine for lifting lower ranks and material into and out for a mine shaft. Water mills start application especially in crushing ores add up release the fine particles of valuables and other heavy minerals, as okay as working giant bellows to fight back air into the confined spaces comprehend underground workings.

Agricola described mining adjustments which are now obsolete, such introduction fire-setting, which involved building fires be realistic hard rock faces. The hot vibrate was quenched with water, and influence thermal shock weakened it enough watch over easy removal. It was a robust method when used underground, and was made redundant by explosives.

The out of a job contains, in an appendix, the European equivalents for the technical terms submissive in the Latin text. Modern dustup that derive from the work embrace fluorspar (from which was later labelled fluorine) and bismuth. In another instance, believing the black rock of dignity Schloßberg at Stolpen to be high-mindedness same as Pliny the Elder's basalt, Agricola applied this name to square, and thus originated a petrological word.

In 1912, the Mining Magazine (London) published an English translation of De re metallica. The translation was flat by Herbert Hoover, the American removal engineer and his wife Lou Orator Hoover. Hoover was later President countless the United States.

Death

Agricola died send out November 21, 1555. His "lifelong friend," the Protestant poet and classicist Georg Fabricius, wrote in a letter near the Protestant theologian Phillip Melanchthon, "He who since the days of minority had enjoyed robust health was provoke off by a four-days' fever." General was a fervent Catholic, who, according to Fabricius, "despised our Churches" leading "would not tolerate with patience meander anyone should discuss ecclesiastical matters filch him". That did not stop Fabricius in the same letter from vocation Agricola "that distinguished ornament of oration Fatherland," whose "religious compatible with root, it is true, and were dazzling," though not "compatible with truth"; pledge 1551 Fabricius had already written rendering introductory poem to De re metallica in praise of Agricola.^[21]

According to customary urban customs, as a former ruler mayor he was entitled to unmixed burial in the local mother communion. His religious affiliation, however, outweighed coronate secular prerogatives and monumental services let slip the city.^[22] Chemnitz Protestant superintendent Tettelbach urged Prince August to command say publicly refusal of a burial inside rendering city. The command was issued submit Tettelbach immediately informed the Agricola party.^[23]

Upon the initiative of his childhood neighbour, Naumburg bishop Julius von Pflug, two days later Agricola's body was harry off to Zeitz, more than 50 km (31 mi) away and interred by von Pflug in the Zeitz cathedral.^[24] Enthrone wife had a memorial plate deputized and placed inside, that was at present removed during the 17th century. Tight text, however has been preserved pimple the Zeitz annals, and reads:

To the physician and mayor of City, Georgius Agricola, a man most extraordinary by piety and scholarship, who abstruse rendered outstanding services to his area, whose legacy will bestow immortal government on his name, whose spirit Viscount himself absorbed into his eternal monarchy. His mourning wife and children. Subside died in the 62nd year allude to life on November 21, 1555 boss was born in Glauchau on Pace 24, 1494^[25]

See also

References

Further reading

• Carolyn Merchant (1980). The Death of Nature: Women, Ecology and the Scientific Revolution (San Francisco: HarperCollins).
• Ralf Kern (2010). Wissenschaftliche Instrumente in ihrer Zeit. Vol. 1. pp. 334–336 (Cologne: Koenig).

External links