Arnold Escher von der Linth
Encyclopedia
Zürich
Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is located in central Switzerland at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich...
– July 12, 1872) was a Swiss geologist
Geologist
A geologist is a scientist who studies the solid and liquid matter that constitutes the Earth as well as the processes and history that has shaped it. Geologists usually engage in studying geology. Geologists, studying more of an applied science than a theoretical one, must approach Geology using...
, the son of Hans Conrad Escher von der Linth
Hans Conrad Escher von der Linth
Hans Conrad Escher von der Linth was a Swiss scientist, artist, and politician. He headed the "Great Council of Switzerland" in 1798, a period of French occupation. He also published a survey of the Swiss Alps and is perhaps most significant for his work in the project to "tame" the Linth river...
(1767-1823).
He made the first ascent of the Lauteraarhorn
Lauteraarhorn
The Lauteraarhorn is a peak of the Aarmassif in the Bernese Alps in Switzerland. It lies close to the Schreckhorn and the Finsteraarhorn...
on 8 August 1842 together with Pierre Jean Édouard Desor
Pierre Jean Édouard Desor
Pierre Jean Édouard Desor was a Swiss geologist. He associated in his early years with Louis Agassiz, studying palaeontology and glacial phenomena, and together with James David Forbes ascended the Jungfrau in 1841...
and Christian Girard, and guides Melchior Bannholzer and Jakob Leuthold.
In 1856 he became professor of geology
Geology
Geology is the science comprising the study of solid Earth, the rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which it evolves. Geology gives insight into the history of the Earth, as it provides the primary evidence for plate tectonics, the evolutionary history of life, and past climates...
at the École Polytechnique
ETH Zurich
The Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich or ETH Zürich is an engineering, science, technology, mathematics and management university in the City of Zurich, Switzerland....
at Zürich
Zürich
Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is located in central Switzerland at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich...
. His researches led him to be regarded as one of the founders of Swiss geology. With Bernhard Studer
Bernhard Studer
Bernhard Studer , Swiss geologist, was born at Büren, near Bern.Although educated as a clergyman, he became so interested in geology at the university of Göttingen that he devoted his life to its pursuit...
he produced (1852-1853) the first elaborate geological map of Switzerland.
He was also the author of Geologische Bemerkungen über dos nordliche Vorarlberg und einige angrenzenden Gegenden, published at Zürich in 1853.