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.
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 h ...
, 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 Ea ...
. 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 Heidel ...
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 S ...
(1893).
His doctoral students include
Adelheid Kofler.
References
*
Further reading
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