Wilhelm Reiss was a German 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...

 and explorer born in Mannheim

Mannheim

Mannheim is a city in southwestern Germany. With about 315,000 inhabitants, Mannheim is the second-largest city in the Bundesland of Baden-Württemberg, following the capital city of Stuttgart....

. Along with Angel Escobar, he was the first person to scale Cotopaxi

Cotopaxi

Cotopaxi is a stratovolcano in the Andes Mountains, located about south of Quito, Ecuador, South America. It is the second highest summit in the country, reaching a height of...

 (1872), and with Alphons Stübel

Alphons Stübel

Moritz Alphons Stübel was a German geologist and vulcanologist who was a native of Leipzig.He studied chemistry and mineralogy at the University of Leipzig. With geologist Wilhelm Reiss , he conducted geological and volcanological research in the Andes from 1868 to 1874...

, he was the first to ascend Tungurahua

Tungurahua

Tungurahua, , rahua : "Throat of Fire" or from Panzaleo) is an active stratovolcano located in the Cordillera Oriental of Ecuador. The volcano gives its name to the province of Tungurahua...

 (1873).

He initially took business courses in Antwerp, but his interest soon turned towards 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...

. In 1858-60 he performed scientific research in Madeira

Madeira

Madeira is a Portuguese archipelago that lies between and , just under 400 km north of Tenerife, Canary Islands, in the north Atlantic Ocean and an outermost region of the European Union...

, the Azores

Azores

The Archipelago of the Azores is composed of nine volcanic islands situated in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean, and is located about west from Lisbon and about east from the east coast of North America. The islands, and their economic exclusion zone, form the Autonomous Region of the...

 and Canary Islands

Canary Islands

The Canary Islands , also known as the Canaries , is a Spanish archipelago located just off the northwest coast of mainland Africa, 100 km west of the border between Morocco and the Western Sahara. The Canaries are a Spanish autonomous community and an outermost region of the European Union...

. He studied sciences at several German learning institutions, earning his doctorate in 1864 from the University of Heidelberg.

In early 1868 with vulcanologist Alphons Stübel

Alphons Stübel

Moritz Alphons Stübel was a German geologist and vulcanologist who was a native of Leipzig.He studied chemistry and mineralogy at the University of Leipzig. With geologist Wilhelm Reiss , he conducted geological and volcanological research in the Andes from 1868 to 1874...

, he embarked on a exploratory trip to Hawaii

Hawaii

Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...

. However, during a stopover in Colombia, the two men became fascinated with the Andes, and spent the next several years performing vulcanological, geological, ethnographical

Ethnography

Ethnography is a qualitative method aimed to learn and understand cultural phenomena which reflect the knowledge and system of meanings guiding the life of a cultural group...

 and archaeological research in Colombia, Ecuador and Peru. In April 1876 Reiss returned to Germany from Rio de Janeiro

Rio de Janeiro

Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...

, with Stübel continuing scientific investigations in Uruguay, Argentina, Chile and Bolivia.

From 1885 to 1887 he was director of the 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...

 Gesellschaft für Erdkunde (Society for Geography), and in 1888 became director of the Anthropological Society of Berlin. In 1892 he moved to Könitz, near the town of Saalfeld, where he died on 29 September 1908.

Selected publications

• Das Totenfeld von Ancón in Peru (Burial Grounds of Ancon
  Ancón District
  Ancón is a district of northern Lima Province in Peru. It is a popular beach resort, visited every summer by hundreds of people from Lima.Officially established as a district on October 29, 1874, the current mayor of Ancón is Jaime Jesús Pajuelo Torres. The district's postal code is...
  
   in Peru), Berlin (1880–86)
• Kultur und Industrie südamerikanischer Völker (Culture and Industry of South American People), Berlin (1889–90)
• Reisen in Südamerika (Journey in South America), Berlin (1890)
• Geologische Studien in der Republik Columbia (Geological Studies in the Republic of Colombia), three volumes; Berlin (1892–99)
• Das Hochgebirge der Republik Ecuador (The Highlands of the Republic of Ecuador), two volumes; Berlin (1892–1902)
• Ecuador 1870-74: petrographische Untersuchungen (Ecuador 1870-74: Petrographic Investigations), Berlin (1901)