Karl Alfred Ritter von Zittel (25 September 1839 – 5 January 1904) was a German

palaeontologist Paleontology (), also spelled palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of life that existed prior to, and sometimes including, the start of the Holocene epoch (roughly 11,700 years before present). It includes the study of fossi ...

best known for his ''Handbuch der Palaeontologie'' (1876–1880).

Biography

Karl Alfred von Zittel was born in Bahlingen in the

Grand Duchy of Baden The Grand Duchy of Baden (german: Großherzogtum Baden) was a state in the southwest German Empire on the east bank of the Rhine. It existed between 1806 and 1918. It came into existence in the 12th century as the Margraviate of Baden and sub ...

. His father, Karl was a leading liberal cleric in Baden. He was educated at the

University of Heidelberg } Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg, (german: Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg; la, Universitas Ruperto Carola Heidelbergensis) is a public university, public research university in Heidelberg, B ...

, the

University of Paris The University of Paris (french: link=no, Université de Paris), Metonymy, metonymically known as the Sorbonne (), was the leading university in Paris, France, active from 1150 to 1970, with the exception between 1793 and 1806 under the French Revo ...

and 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 ...

. For a short period he served on the Geological Survey of Austria, and as assistant in the mineralogical museum at

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

. In 1863, he became teacher of

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 ...

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 ...

in the polytechnic at

Karlsruhe Karlsruhe ( , , ; South Franconian German, South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, third-largest city of the German States of Germany, state (''Land'') of Baden-Württemberg after its capital o ...

, and three years later he succeeded

Albert Oppel Carl Albert Oppel (19 December 1831 – 23 December 1865) was a German paleontologist. History He was born at Hohenheim in Württemberg, on 19 December 1831. He first went to the University of Tübingen, where he graduated with a Ph.D. ...

as professor of palaeontology in the

University of Munich 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 ...

, with the charge of the state collection of fossils. In 1880, he was appointed to the geological professorship, and eventually to the directorship of the natural history museum of Munich. His earlier work comprised a monograph on the ''Cretaceous bivalve mollusca of Gosau'' (1863–1866); and an essay on the

Tithonian In the geological timescale, the Tithonian is the latest age of the Late Jurassic Epoch and the uppermost stage of the Upper Jurassic Series. It spans the time between 152.1 ± 4 Ma and 145.0 ± 4 Ma (million years ago). It is preceded by t ...

stage (1870), regarded as equivalent to the Purbeck Group and

Weald The Weald () is an area of South East England between the parallel chalk escarpments of the North and the South Downs. It crosses the counties of Hampshire, Surrey, Sussex and Kent. It has three separate parts: the sandstone "High Weald" in ...

en formations. In 1873–1874, he accompanied the

Friedrich Gerhard Rohlfs Friedrich Gerhard Rohlfs (14 April 1831 – 2 June 1896) was a German geographer, explorer, author and adventurer. Biography Friedrich Gerhard Rohlfs was born at Vegesack, now part of Bremen. His father was a physician, and there was much pr ...

's expedition to the

Libyan Desert The Libyan Desert (not to be confused with the Libyan Sahara) is a geographical region filling the north-eastern Sahara Desert, from eastern Libya to the Western Desert of Egypt and far northwestern Sudan. On medieval maps, its use predates t ...

, the primary results of which were published in ''Über den geologischen Bau der libyschen Wuste'' (1880), and further details in the ''Palaeontographica'' (1883). Zittel was distinguished for his palaeontological researches. From 1869 until the close of his life he was chief editor of the ''Palaeontographica''. In 1876, he commenced the publication of his great work, ''Handbuch der Palaeontologie'', which was completed in 1893 in five volumes, the fifth volume on palaeobotany being prepared by W. P. Schimper and A. Schenk. To make his work as trustworthy as possible Zittel made special studies of each great group, commencing with the fossil sponges, on which he published a monograph (1877–1879). In 1895, he issued a summary of his larger work entitled ''Grundzuge der Palaeontologie''. He was author of ''Aus der Urzeit'' and ''Die Sahara'' (1883). In 1899, he published ''Geschichte der Geologie und Palaeontologie bis Ende des 19 Jahrhunderts'', a monumental history of the progress of geological science. Zittel was president of the Royal Bavarian Academy of Sciences from 1899, and in 1894 he was awarded the

Wollaston medal The Wollaston Medal is a scientific award for geology, the highest award granted by the Geological Society of London. The medal is named after William Hyde Wollaston, and was first awarded in 1831. It was originally made of gold (1831–1845), t ...

by the

Geological Society of London The Geological Society of London, known commonly as the Geological Society, is a learned society based in the United Kingdom. It is the oldest national geological society in the world and the largest in Europe with more than 12,000 Fellows. Fe ...

. He was elected an international honorary member of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, ...

in 1903.

References

Sources

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Zittel, Karl Alfred von 19th-century German zoologists 20th-century German zoologists 1839 births 1904 deaths Corresponding members of the Saint Petersburg Academy of Sciences Foreign associates of the National Academy of Sciences 19th-century German geologists German paleontologists German taxonomists Paleozoologists People from Emmendingen (district) People from the Grand Duchy of Baden Wollaston Medal winners