Paul Heinrich von Groth
Encyclopedia
Paul Heinrich von Groth was a German
mineralogist. His most important contribution to science was his systematic classification of minerals based on their chemical compositions and crystal structures.
He was born at Magdeburg
, and educated at Freiberg
, Dresden
and Berlin
, and received the doctorate degree in 1868. After holding from 1872 the chair of mineralogy at Strasbourg
, he was appointed in 1883 professor of mineralogy and curator of mineral
s in the state museum at Munich
.
He carried out extensive research on crystal
s and minerals, and also on rock
s. von Groth published Tabellarische Übersicht der einfachen Mineralien (1874-1898) and Physikalische Krystallographie (1876-1895, ed. 4, 1905), the latter of which was influential with the acceptance of crystallographic methods in the field of organic chemistry. In 1877 he founded the journal Zeitschrift für Krystallographie und Mineralogie, and subsequently served as its editor until 1920. In 1883, Groth compiled a monumental five-volume collection entitled Chemische Kristallographie, which contained crystalline morphology and physical property data on thousands of substances.
By Groth's time, Dalton's atomic theory was already well established. In 1888, Groth was the first to suggest the possibility that spherical atoms reside at equivalent positions of space lattices, which gave a physical significance to this still somewhat abstract idea of the regular and symmetric partitioning of space. The German physicist Leonhard Sohncke (1842–1897) had previously derived the 65 chiral space groups (i.e. those lacking an inversion center, mirror planes, or improper axes of rotation that invert the handedness of a crystal). The mathematical descriptions of the complete set of 230 space groups, including their symmetry elements, were thereafter derived independently by Schönflies
, Fedorov
, and Barlow. Finally, in 1922, Ralph Walter Graystone Wyckoff (1897–1994)
authored The Analytical Expression of the Results of the Theory of Space Groups, a book which contained, among other things, tables with the positional coordinates, both general and special, permitted by the symmetry elements.
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
mineralogist. His most important contribution to science was his systematic classification of minerals based on their chemical compositions and crystal structures.
He was born at Magdeburg
Magdeburg
Magdeburg , is the largest city and the capital city of the Bundesland of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Magdeburg is situated on the Elbe River and was one of the most important medieval cities of Europe....
, and educated at Freiberg
Freiberg, Saxony
Freiberg is a city in the Free State of Saxony, Germany, administrative center of the Mittelsachsen district.-History:The city was founded in 1186, and has been a center of the mining industry in the Ore Mountains for centuries...
, Dresden
Dresden
Dresden is the capital city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe, near the Czech border. The Dresden conurbation is part of the Saxon Triangle metropolitan area....
and Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, and received the doctorate degree in 1868. After holding from 1872 the chair of mineralogy at Strasbourg
University of Strasbourg
The University of Strasbourg in Strasbourg, Alsace, France, is the largest university in France, with about 43,000 students and over 4,000 researchers....
, he was appointed in 1883 professor of mineralogy and curator of mineral
Mineral
A mineral is a naturally occurring solid chemical substance formed through biogeochemical processes, having characteristic chemical composition, highly ordered atomic structure, and specific physical properties. By comparison, a rock is an aggregate of minerals and/or mineraloids and does not...
s in the state museum at Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
.
He carried out extensive research on crystal
Crystal
A crystal or crystalline solid is a solid material whose constituent atoms, molecules, or ions are arranged in an orderly repeating pattern extending in all three spatial dimensions. The scientific study of crystals and crystal formation is known as crystallography...
s and minerals, and also on rock
Rock (geology)
In geology, rock or stone is a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals and/or mineraloids.The Earth's outer solid layer, the lithosphere, is made of rock. In general rocks are of three types, namely, igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic...
s. von Groth published Tabellarische Übersicht der einfachen Mineralien (1874-1898) and Physikalische Krystallographie (1876-1895, ed. 4, 1905), the latter of which was influential with the acceptance of crystallographic methods in the field of organic chemistry. In 1877 he founded the journal Zeitschrift für Krystallographie und Mineralogie, and subsequently served as its editor until 1920. In 1883, Groth compiled a monumental five-volume collection entitled Chemische Kristallographie, which contained crystalline morphology and physical property data on thousands of substances.
By Groth's time, Dalton's atomic theory was already well established. In 1888, Groth was the first to suggest the possibility that spherical atoms reside at equivalent positions of space lattices, which gave a physical significance to this still somewhat abstract idea of the regular and symmetric partitioning of space. The German physicist Leonhard Sohncke (1842–1897) had previously derived the 65 chiral space groups (i.e. those lacking an inversion center, mirror planes, or improper axes of rotation that invert the handedness of a crystal). The mathematical descriptions of the complete set of 230 space groups, including their symmetry elements, were thereafter derived independently by Schönflies
Arthur Moritz Schönflies
Arthur Moritz Schoenflies , sometimes written as Schönflies, was a German mathematician, known for his contributions to the application of group theory to crystallography, and for work in topology....
, Fedorov
Yevgraf Fyodorov
Yevgraf Stepanovich Fyodorov, sometimes spelled Evgraf Stepanovich Fedorov , was a Russian mathematician, crystallographer, and mineralogist....
, and Barlow. Finally, in 1922, Ralph Walter Graystone Wyckoff (1897–1994)
Ralph Walter Graystone Wyckoff
Ralph Walter Graystone Wyckoff, Sr. was an American scientist and pioneer of X-ray crystallography. He was elected Foreign member of the Royal Society, on April 19, 1951....
authored The Analytical Expression of the Results of the Theory of Space Groups, a book which contained, among other things, tables with the positional coordinates, both general and special, permitted by the symmetry elements.
as author
- Elemente der physikalischen und chemischen Krystallographie (R. Oldenbourg, 1921)
- Physikalische Krystallographie und Einleitung in die krystallographische Kenntniss der wichtigsten Subtanzen (W. Engelmann, 1905)
- Ueber die Molekularbeschaffenheit der Krystalle. Festrede gehalten in der offentkichen Sitzung der k.b. Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Munchen zur Feier des einhundert und neunundzwanzigsten Stiftungstages am 28 marz 1888 (Munchen, 1888)