Heinrich Ries (April 30, 1871 – April 11, 1951) was an American
economic geologist, born in
Brooklyn, New York
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
, and educated at
Columbia University
Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
and at 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 ...
. He was employed principally at
Cornell University
Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...
, initially as an instructor (1898–1902), as an assistant professor (1902–1905), as professor, and as head of the geological department (1915- ). Professor Ries made numerous reports on
clay
Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4).
Clays develop plasticity when wet, due to a molecular film of water surrounding the clay par ...
published by the
United States Geological Survey
The United States Geological Survey (USGS), formerly simply known as the Geological Survey, is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, ...
, th
New York State Geological Surveyand the
Canadian Geological Survey
The Geological Survey of Canada (GSC; french: Commission géologique du Canada (CGC)) is a Canadian federal government agency responsible for performing geological surveys of the country, developing Canada's natural resources and protecting the en ...
.
His first wife,
Millie Timmerman Ries, a botanist and scientific illustrator who collaborated with
Elizabeth Britton and
Anna Murray Vail
Anna Murray Vail (January 7, 1863 – December 18, 1955) was an American botanist and first librarian of the New York Botanical Garden. She was a student of the Columbia University botanist and geologist Nathaniel Lord Britton, with whom she he ...
, died in 1942. He remarried in 1948, but his second wife, Mrs. Adelyn Halsy Gregg Ries, died early in 1950. He had two sons with his first wife Millie, Professor Victor H. Reis of
Ohio State University
The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...
, and Professor
Donald T. Ries of
Illinois State Normal University
Illinois State University (ISU) is a public university in Normal, Illinois. Founded in 1857 as Illinois State Normal University, it is the oldest public university in Illinois. The university emphasizes teaching and is recognized as one of th ...
.
Ries was president of the
Geological Society of America
The Geological Society of America (GSA) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the advancement of the geosciences.
History
The society was founded in Ithaca, New York, in 1888 by Alexander Winchell, John J. Stevenson, Charles H. Hitchco ...
in 1929.
[Eckel, Edwin, 1982, GSA Memoir 155, The Geological Society of America — Life History of a Learned Society: Boulder, Colorado, Geological Society of America Memoir 155, 168 p., .]
Publications
*
Clay Deposits and Clay Industry in North Carolina: A Preliminary Report (1897)'
*
Clays and Shales of Michigan: Their Properties and Uses' (1900)
*
Economic Geology of the United States' (1905; third edition, revised, 1911)
*
Clays: Their Occurrence, Properties, and Uses' (1906, second edition, 1908)
* ''Clays of Texas'' (1908)
*
History of Clay-Working Industry in the United States' (1909), with Henry Leighton
*
Building Stones and Clay Products: A Handbook for Architects' (1912)
*
Engineering Geology' (1914; second edition, revised, 1915)
References
External links
*
Cornell University Library
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ries, Heinrich
American geologists
American non-fiction writers
1871 births
1951 deaths
Columbia University alumni
Cornell University faculty
United States Geological Survey personnel
Economic geologists
Presidents of the Geological Society of America