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 ...

and mineralogist, 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 Falkenstein or Falckenstein ("falcons' stone" in German) may refer to: Places Austria * Falkenstein, Lower Austria, a market town in the district of Mistelbach Germany * Falkenstein, Bavaria, a market town in the district of Cham * Falkenst ...

in the Bavarian Forest. In 1807 he became professor of chemistry 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 proce ...

at the

Ludwig Maximilian University The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich or LMU; german: link=no, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München) is a public research university in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Originally established as the University of ...

, which was located in Landshut 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 German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

, 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). He used it to develop stereochromy, a kind of fresco painting 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 m ...

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 (1821) and margarite (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 Bytów, Bütow, Farther Pomerania (now Bytów, Poland), he is known as the publisher of ''Neues allgemeines Journal der Chem ...

, was co-describer of the mineral mesolite (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 Fuchsite, also known as chrome mica, is a chromium (Cr) rich variety of the mineral muscovite, belonging to the mica group of phyllosilicate minerals, with the chemical formula . Trivalent chromium replaces one of the aluminium (Al) atoms in the ...

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 main ...

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