Prof Gustavus ("Gustav") Rose FRSFor H

FRSE Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". This soc ...

(18 March 1798 – 15 July 1873) was a German

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 ...

who was a native of Berlin. He was President of the German Geological Society from 1863 to 1873.

Life

He was born in Berlin the son of

pharmacologist Pharmacology is a branch of medicine, biology and pharmaceutical sciences concerned with drug or medication action, where a drug may be defined as any artificial, natural, or endogenous (from within the body) molecule which exerts a biochemica ...

Valentin Rose. Rose was a graduate of the

University of Berlin Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (german: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a German public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin. It was established by Frederick William III on the initiative o ...

, where he was a student of mineralogist Christian Samuel Weiss (1780–1856). He also studied under Swedish physical chemist

Jöns Jakob Berzelius Jöns is a Swedish given name and a surname. Notable people with the given name include: * Jöns Jacob Berzelius (1779–1848), Swedish chemist * Jöns Budde (1435–1495), Franciscan friar from the Brigittine monastery in NaantaliVallis Gratia ...

(1779–1848) in

Stockholm Stockholm () is the capital and largest city of Sweden as well as the largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people live in the municipality, with 1.6 million in the urban area, and 2.4 million in the metropol ...

. While studying with Berzelius, Rose met German chemist

Eilhard Mitscherlich Eilhard Mitscherlich (; 7 January 179428 August 1863) was a German chemist, who is perhaps best remembered today for his discovery of the phenomenon of crystallographic isomorphism in 1819. Early life and work Mitscherlich was born at Neuende ...

(1794–1863), with whom he maintained a lifelong friendship. Rose provided assistance to Mitscherlich's development of the law of

isomorphism In mathematics, an isomorphism is a structure-preserving mapping between two structures of the same type that can be reversed by an inverse mapping. Two mathematical structures are isomorphic if an isomorphism exists between them. The word i ...

. In 1826 he became an associate professor of

mineralogy 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 pr ...

in Berlin. In 1829, with German naturalists

Alexander von Humboldt Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich Alexander von Humboldt (14 September 17696 May 1859) was a German polymath, geographer, naturalist, explorer, and proponent of Romantic philosophy and science. He was the younger brother of the Prussian minister, ...

(1769–1859) and

Christian Gottfried Ehrenberg Christian Gottfried Ehrenberg (19 April 1795 – 27 June 1876) was a German naturalist, zoologist, comparative anatomist, geologist, and microscopist. Ehrenberg was an evangelist and was considered to be of the most famous and productive scie ...

(1795–1876), Rose took part in a scientific expedition throughout

Imperial Russia The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. T ...

. In Russia he performed mineralogical studies in the Altai and

Ural Mountains The Ural Mountains ( ; rus, Ура́льские го́ры, r=Uralskiye gory, p=ʊˈralʲskʲɪjə ˈɡorɨ; ba, Урал тауҙары) or simply the Urals, are a mountain range that runs approximately from north to south through western ...

, as well as in the region of the

Caspian Sea The Caspian Sea is the world's largest inland body of water, often described as the world's largest lake or a full-fledged sea. An endorheic basin, it lies between Europe and Asia; east of the Caucasus, west of the broad steppe of Central As ...

. In 1856 he was appointed director of the Royal Mineralogical Museum. From 1863 up until his death he was president of the German Geological Society.

Research

Gustav Rose made important contributions in the fields of

petrology Petrology () is the branch of geology that studies rock (geology), rocks and the conditions under which they form. Petrology has three subdivisions: igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary petrology. Igneous and metamorphic petrology are commonly ...

and

crystallography Crystallography is the experimental science of determining the arrangement of atoms in crystalline solids. Crystallography is a fundamental subject in the fields of materials science and solid-state physics (condensed matter physics). The wor ...

, and is credited for pioneering usage of the reflective

goniometer A goniometer is an instrument that either measures an angle or allows an object to be rotated to a precise angular position. The term goniometry derives from two Greek words, γωνία (''gōnía'') 'angle' and μέτρον (''métron'') ' m ...

in Germany. He had a particular interest in the relationship between the crystalline form and the physical properties of minerals. He is credited for developing a mineral system that was a combination of

chemistry Chemistry is the scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a natural science that covers the elements that make up matter to the compounds made of atoms, molecules and ions: their composition, structure, propertie ...

, isomorphy and morphology. Rose conducted studies of

quartz Quartz is a hard, crystalline mineral composed of silica (silicon dioxide). The atoms are linked in a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon-oxygen tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tetrahedra, giving an overall chemical fo ...

feldspar Feldspars are a group of rock-forming aluminium tectosilicate minerals, also containing other cations such as sodium, calcium, potassium, or barium. The most common members of the feldspar group are the ''plagioclase'' (sodium-calcium) feld ...

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained ( phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies unde ...

s, and the mineralogical components of

trap rock Trap rock, also known as either trapp or trap, is any dark-colored, fine-grained, non-granitic intrusive or extrusive igneous rock. Types of trap rock include basalt, peridotite, diabase, and gabbro.Neuendorf, K.K.E., J.P. Mehl, Jr., and J.A. ...

. He is remembered for research on

meteorites A meteorite is a solid piece of debris from an object, such as a comet, asteroid, or meteoroid, that originates in outer space and survives its passage through the atmosphere to reach the surface of a planet or moon. When the original object e ...

and

chondrule A chondrule (from Ancient Greek χόνδρος ''chondros'', grain) is a round grain found in a chondrite. Chondrules form as molten or partially molten droplets in space before being accreted to their parent asteroids. Because chondrites repres ...

s (grains found in some types of meteorites). With

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 Heide ...

(1836–1927) and

Aristides Brezina Aristides Brezina (4 May 1848 – 25 May 1909) was an Austrian mineralogist born in Vienna. In 1872 he graduated from the University of Tübingen, and afterwards taught crystallography at the University of Vienna. In 1878 he succeeded Austri ...

(1848–1909), the "Rose-Tschermak-Brezina classification" system of meteorites was developed. He identified many minerals new to science, including

perovskite Perovskite (pronunciation: ) is a calcium titanium oxide mineral composed of calcium titanate (chemical formula ). Its name is also applied to the class of compounds which have the same type of crystal structure as (XIIA2+VIB4+X2−3), known as ...

, named in honor of Russian mineralogist Lev Aleksevich von Perovski (1792–1856). A rose-colored mineral named

roselite Roselite is a rare arsenate mineral with chemical formula: . It was first described in 1825 for an occurrence in the Rappold mines of Schneeberg, Saxony, Germany and named by Armand Lévy after German mineralogist Gustav Rose. It occurs in co ...

is named after Rose, and he is credited with coining the terms howardite and

eucrite Eucrites are achondritic stony meteorites, many of which originate from the surface of the asteroid 4 Vesta and are part of the HED meteorite clan. They are the most common achondrite group with over 100 meteorites found. Eucrites consist of b ...

Selected publications

*''Elemente der Krystallographie'' (1830) – Elements of crystallography. *''Mineralogischgeognostische Reise nach dem Ural, dem Altai and dem Kaspische Meere'' (1837) Vol. 1; (1842) Vol. 2. – Mineralogical-gognostic journey to the

Urals The Ural Mountains ( ; rus, Ура́льские го́ры, r=Uralskiye gory, p=ʊˈralʲskʲɪjə ˈɡorɨ; ba, Урал тауҙары) or simply the Urals, are a mountain range that runs approximately from north to south through western ...

, the

Altai Mountains The Altai Mountains (), also spelled Altay Mountains, are a mountain range in Central and East Asia, where Russia, China, Mongolia and Kazakhstan converge, and where the rivers Irtysh and Ob have their headwaters. The massif merges with the ...

and the

. *''Das Krystallo-chemische Mineralsystem'' (1852) – The crystallo-chemical mineral system. * – Description and classification of meteorites in the collection at the mineralogical museum of Berlin.

Family

He was a brother of mineralogist

Heinrich Rose Heinrich Rose (6 August 1795 – 27 January 1864) was a German mineralogist and analytical chemist. He was the brother of the mineralogist Gustav Rose and a son of Valentin Rose. Rose's early works on phosphorescence were noted in the Quarte ...

(1795–1864) and the father of noted

surgeon In modern medicine, a surgeon is a medical professional who performs surgery. Although there are different traditions in different times and places, a modern surgeon usually is also a licensed physician or received the same medical training a ...

Edmund Rose Edmund Rose (October 10, 1836 – May 31, 1914) was a German surgeon who was a native of Berlin. He studied medicine in Berlin and Würzburg, and subsequently was an assistant to surgeon Robert Ferdinand Wilms in Berlin from 1860 until 1864. F ...

(1836–1914) and the classicist Valentin Rose (1829–1916).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rose, Gustav 1798 births 1873 deaths German mineralogists Crystallographers Scientists from Berlin People from the Margraviate of Brandenburg Humboldt University of Berlin alumni Humboldt University of Berlin faculty Foreign Members of the Royal Society Recipients of the Pour le Mérite (civil class) Meteorite researchers Rare earth scientists

Life

Research

Selected publications

Family

See also

References