Johann Nepomuk von Fuchs (15 May 1774 – 5 March 1856) was a German

chemist A chemist (from Greek ''chēm(ía)'' alchemy; replacing ''chymist'' from Medieval Latin ''alchemist'') is a scientist trained in the study of chemistry. Chemists study the composition of matter and its properties. Chemists carefully describe th ...

and

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 royal Bavarian

privy councillor A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...

Biography

He was born at Mattenzell, near Falkenstein in the

Bavarian Forest The village of Zell in the Bavarian Forest The Bavarian Forest (German: ' or ''Bayerwald''; bar, Boarischa Woid) is a wooded, low-mountain region in Bavaria, Germany that is about 100 kilometres long. It runs along the Czech border and is con ...

. In 1807 he became professor of

chemistry Chemistry is the science, scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a natural science that covers the Chemical element, elements that make up matter to the chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules and ions ...

and

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 proces ...

at the

Ludwig Maximilian University The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich or LMU; german: Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München) is a public research university in Munich, Germany. It is Germany's sixth-oldest university in continuous operatio ...

, which was located in

Landshut Landshut (; bar, Landshuad) is a town in Bavaria in the south-east of Germany. Situated on the banks of the River Isar, Landshut is the capital of Lower Bavaria, one of the seven administrative regions of the Free State of Bavaria. It is also t ...

at the time, and in 1823 conservator of the mineralogical collections at

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

, where he was appointed professor of mineralogy three years later, when the university was relocated. He retired in 1852, was ennobled by the king of Bavaria in 1854, and died at Munich on 5 March 1856. He is largely known for his mineralogical observations and for his work on waterglass (

sodium silicate Sodium silicate is a generic name for chemical compounds with the formula or ·, such as sodium metasilicate , sodium orthosilicate , and sodium pyrosilicate . The anions are often polymeric. These compounds are generally colorless transparent ...

). He used it to develop

stereochromy Mineral painting or Keim's process, also known as stereochromy, is a mural or fresco painting technique that uses a water glass-based paint to maximize the lifetime of the finished work. The name "stereochromy" was first used in about 1825 by Jo ...

, a kind of

fresco painting Fresco (plural ''frescos'' or ''frescoes'') is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaster ...

where the pigments are fixed with waterglass. Historically, the substance was sometimes referred to as "Fuchs's soluble glass". Also, he developed a scientific method for the production of

cement A cement is a binder, a chemical substance used for construction that sets, hardens, and adheres to other materials to bind them together. Cement is seldom used on its own, but rather to bind sand and gravel ( aggregate) together. Cement mix ...

and made contributions to the understanding of the amorphic state of solids.Johann Nepomuk von Fuchs
Original Catholic Encyclopedia He coined the mineral names

wagnerite Wagnerite is a mineral, a combined phosphate and fluoride of iron and magnesium, with the formula . It occurs in pegmatite associated with other phosphate minerals. It is named after Franz Michael von Wagner (1768–1851), a German mining offic ...

(1821) and

margarite Margarite is a calcium rich member of the mica group of the phyllosilicates with formula: Ca Al2(Al2 Si2) O10(O H)2. It forms white to pinkish or yellowish gray masses or thin laminae. It crystallizes in the monoclinic crystal system. It typical ...

(1823), and with

Adolph Ferdinand Gehlen Adolph Ferdinand Gehlen (5 September 1775 – 16 July 1815) was a German chemist. Life and education Gehlen was born in Bütow, Farther Pomerania (now Bytów, Poland), he is known as the publisher of ''Neues allgemeines Journal der Chemie'' (1 ...

, was co-describer of the mineral

mesolite Mesolite is a tectosilicate mineral with formula Na2 Ca2( Al2 Si3 O10)3·8 H2O. It is a member of the zeolite group and is closely related to natrolite which it also resembles in appearance. Mesolite crystallizes in the orthorhombic system and t ...

(1816). A variety of

muscovite Muscovite (also known as common mica, isinglass, or potash mica) is a hydrated phyllosilicate mineral of aluminium and potassium with formula K Al2(Al Si3 O10)( F,O H)2, or ( KF)2( Al2O3)3( SiO2)6( H2O). It has a highly perfect basal cleavage ...

called fuchsite commemorates his name.

Published works

* ''Ueber die Entstehung der Porzellan-Erde'', 1821 – On the origin of

porcelain Porcelain () is a ceramic material made by heating substances, generally including materials such as kaolinite, in a kiln to temperatures between . The strength and translucence of porcelain, relative to other types of pottery, arises mainl ...

earth. * ''Neue Methode das Bier auf seine wesentlichen Bestandtheile zu untersuchen'', 1836. * ''Naturgeschichte des Mineralreichs'', 1842 – Natural history of the mineral world. * ''Über die Theorien der Erde, den Amorphismus fester Körper und den gegenseitigen Einfluß der Chemie und Mineralogie'', 1844 – In regards to earth science, the amorphism of solid bodies and the mutual influence of chemistry and mineralogy. * ''La stéréochromie: peinture monumentale'', 1861 (French translation by Léon Dalemagne).Google Search
published works

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fuchs, Johann Nepomuk von 1774 births 1856 deaths 18th-century German chemists 19th-century German chemists German mineralogists German Roman Catholics Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich faculty German untitled nobility 19th-century German writers 19th-century German male writers