Waldemar Lindgren
Encyclopedia
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...
. Lindgren was one of the founders of modern Economic geology
Economic geology
Economic geology is concerned with earth materials that can be used for economic and/or industrial purposes. These materials include precious and base metals, nonmetallic minerals, construction-grade stone, petroleum minerals, coal, and water. The term commonly refers to metallic mineral deposits...
.
Biography
Waldemar Lindgren was born in VassmolösaVassmolösa
Vassmolösa is a locality situated in Kalmar Municipality, Kalmar County, Sweden with 544 inhabitants in 2005....
, Kalmar Municipality
Kalmar Municipality
Kalmar Municipality is a municipality in Kalmar County, southeastern Sweden. The city of Kalmar is the municipal seat.The present municipality was created in 1971, when the City of Kalmar was amalgamated with five surrounding rural municipalities...
, in the historical province of Småland
Småland
' is a historical province in southern Sweden.Småland borders Blekinge, Scania or Skåne, Halland, Västergötland, Östergötland and the island Öland in the Baltic Sea. The name Småland literally means Small Lands. . The latinized form Smolandia has been used in other languages...
in southern Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
, the son of Johan and Emma Lindgren. Lindgren's father was a judge and member of parliament, his mother the daughter of a clergyman. Lindgren attended the Freiberg Mining Academy, Germany
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...
, graduating as a mining engineer in 1882.
In 1884, he began a 31-year career with the U.S. Geological Survey, working on ore deposits in the Rocky Mountains
Rocky Mountains
The Rocky Mountains are a major mountain range in western North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch more than from the northernmost part of British Columbia, in western Canada, to New Mexico, in the southwestern United States...
. In 1905, he helped found the journal Economic Geology
Society of Economic Geologists
The Society of Economic Geologists originated from a 1919 gathering of a group of Geological Society of America members who were especially interested in economic geology. The Society was established on December 28, 1920, during a constituting meeting of 60 distinguished professionals...
. In 1912, he was appointed head of the Department of Geology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...
.
Lindgren was elected a foreign member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences or Kungliga Vetenskapsakademien is one of the Royal Academies of Sweden. The Academy is an independent, non-governmental scientific organization which acts to promote the sciences, primarily the natural sciences and mathematics.The Academy was founded on 2...
in 1931.
Lindgren was a fellow of the Mineralogical Society of America
Mineralogical Society of America
The Mineralogical Society of America is a scientific membership organization. MSA was founded in 1919 for the advancement of mineralogy, crystallography, geochemistry, and petrology, and promotion of their uses in other sciences, industry, and the arts...
. He has served as President of the Geological Society of America
Geological Society of America
The Geological Society of America is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the advancement of the geosciences. The society was founded in New York in 1888 by Alexander Winchell, John J. Stevenson, Charles H. Hitchcock, John R. Proctor and Edward Orton and has been headquartered at 3300 Penrose...
and of the Society of Economic Geologists
Society of Economic Geologists
The Society of Economic Geologists originated from a 1919 gathering of a group of Geological Society of America members who were especially interested in economic geology. The Society was established on December 28, 1920, during a constituting meeting of 60 distinguished professionals...
.
Lindgren's published writings run to nearly 200 titles, not counting discussions, reviews, and more than 1,000 abstracts. Most of his publications are on the great ore deposits. Editions of Mineral Deposits, his widely-used textbook were published in 1913, 1919, 1928 and 1933.
Notable publications
- The Gold Belt of the Blue Mountains of Oregon Extract from the 22nd Annual Report (1900-1901) Part 2: Ore Deposits (U.S. Geological Survey. 1902. pages 553-776)
- The water resources of Molokai, Hawaiian Islands (US Geological Survey Water-Supply Paper No. 77. 1903. 62 pages)
- The copper deposits of the Clifton-Morenci district, Arizona (US Geological Survey Professional Paper No. 43. 1905. 375 pages)
- Geology and gold deposits of the Cripple Creek District, Colorado. (Lindgren, W., & Ransome, F. L. US Geological Survey Professional Paper No. 54. 1906. 516 pages)
- The ore deposits of New Mexico (Lindgren, W., Graton, L. C., Schrader, F. C., & Hill, J. M. US Geological Survey Professional Paper No. 68 1910. 361 pages)
- The Tertiary Gravels of the Sierra Nevada of California (US Geological Survey Professional Paper No. 73. 1911. 226 pages)
- Mineral Deposits (New York, McGraw-Hill. 1913)
External links
- Memorial from American Mineralogist
- Brief bio, National Mining Hall of Fame
- Biographical sketch from Dictionary of American Biography
- Lindgren at Freiberg Mining Academy, from SEG Newsletter, accessed 1/17/08