Friedrich Johann Karl Becke (31 December 1855, in Prague – 18 June 1931, in Vienna) was an Austrian

mineralogist Mineralogy is a subject of geology specializing in the scientific study of the chemistry, crystal structure, and physical (including optical) properties of minerals and mineralized artifacts. Specific studies within mineralogy include the proces ...

and

petrographer Petrography is a branch of petrology that focuses on detailed descriptions of rocks. Someone who studies petrography is called a petrographer. The mineral content and the textural relationships within the rock are described in detail. The class ...

Biography

After studying at the

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (german: Universität Wien) is a public research university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world. With its long and rich histor ...

, where he specialized in the natural sciences, he became there a lecturer on

geology Geology () is a branch of natural science concerned with Earth and other astronomical objects, the features or rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Ear ...

. In 1882 he was appointed professor at the

University of Czernowitz Chernivtsi National University (full name Yuriy Fedkovych Chernivtsi National University, uk, Чернівецький національний університет імені Юрія Федьковича) is a public university in the City o ...

. Eight years later he received a similar appointment at

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

, but soon after went to Vienna, where he became professor of mineralogy, succeeding

Gustav Tschermak von Seysenegg Gustav Tschermak von Seysenegg (19 April 1836 – 24 May 1927) was an Austrian mineralogist. Biography He was born in Litovel, Moravia, and studied at the University of Vienna, where he obtained a teaching degree. He studied mineralogy at Heidelb ...

as such, of whose periodical ''Mineralogische und Petrographische Mittheilungen'' he became editor. He published many papers on the science of geology and mineralogy, but he was best known on account of his researches in the field of rock-forming minerals and how they may be determined by means of their light-refractive properties. The results of these studies were published by the

Vienna Academy The Academy of Fine Arts Vienna (german: link=no, Akademie der bildenden Künste Wien) is a public art school in Vienna, Austria. History The Academy of Fine Arts Vienna was founded in 1692 as a private academy modelled on the Accademia di Sa ...

(1893). His doctoral students include

Adelheid Kofler Adelheid Kofler née Schaschek (24 June 1889, Haugsdorf – 27 July 1985, Innsbruck) was an Austrian inventor, mineralogist, and ophthalmologist. She was an early Ph.D./M.D. graduate from the University of Vienna. Biography After attending the p ...

References

Friedrichbeckeite
*
Becke Friedrich
In: Österreichisches Biographisches Lexikon 1815–1950 (ÖBL). Band 1, Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Wien 1957, S. 62.
Friedrich Becke

10 Jahre Arbeitsgruppe Geschichte der Erdwissenschaften Österreichs

Das wissenschaftliche Erbe von Gustav Tschermak-Seysenegg (1836–1927): Eine Zusammenstellung biographischer Daten seiner Doktoranden

Friedrich Becke und die Tauerngeologie
{{DEFAULTSORT:Becke, Friedrich Johann Karl 1855 births 1931 deaths 19th-century Austrian scientists 20th-century Austrian scientists Austrian mineralogists University of Vienna alumni Academics of the University of Vienna Chernivtsi University academic personnel Corresponding members of the Saint Petersburg Academy of Sciences Corresponding Members of the Russian Academy of Sciences (1917–1925) Corresponding Members of the USSR Academy of Sciences German Bohemian people Austrian people of German Bohemian descent Scientists from Prague Petrologists Members of the Göttingen Academy of Sciences and Humanities

Biography

References

Further reading