Peter Merian (20 December 1795– 8 February 1883) was a Swiss

geologist A geologist is a scientist who studies the solid, liquid, and gaseous matter that constitutes Earth and other terrestrial planets, as well as the processes that shape them. Geologists usually study geology, earth science, or geophysics, althoug ...

and

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 ...

. He studied sciences at the

University of Basel The University of Basel (Latin: ''Universitas Basiliensis'', German: ''Universität Basel'') is a university in Basel, Switzerland. Founded on 4 April 1460, it is Switzerland's oldest university and among the world's oldest surviving universit ...

, the Academy of Geneva and at the

University of Göttingen The University of Göttingen, officially the Georg August University of Göttingen, (german: Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, known informally as Georgia Augusta) is a public research university in the city of Göttingen, Germany. Founded ...

(1815–17), where he studied geology under

Johann Friedrich Ludwig Hausmann Johann Friedrich Ludwig Hausmann (22 February 1782, Hannover – 26 December 1859, Göttingen) was a German mineralogist. Biography He was born in Hannover and educated in Göttingen, where he obtained a PhD. Two years after making a geological t ...

. At Göttingen he became good friends with

Bernhard Studer Prof Bernhard Studer HFRSE (August 21, 1794May 2, 1887), was a 19th-century Swiss geologist. Biography He was born at Buren an der Aare near Bern in Switzerland on 21 August 1794. He was educated to become a clergyman, but his interests later ...

.Merian, Peter
at Deutsche Biographie After obtaining his doctorate, he continued his education in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

up until 1819, and then returned to Basel and proceeded to conduct geological studies of the

Swiss Jura Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina *Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses *Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports *Swiss Internatio ...

.Google Books
Science, Volume 1 In 1820 he was named professor of

physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...

and chemistry at Basel, and during the following year, became director of the

Natural History Museum A natural history museum or museum of natural history is a scientific institution with natural history collections that include current and historical records of animals, plants, fungi, ecosystems, geology, paleontology, climatology, and more. ...

. From 1835 to 1861, he was an honorary professor of geology and palaeontology at Basel, where three times he served as university rector. In 1838 and 1856 he was president of the ''Schweizer Naturforschenden Gesellschaft''. Escher Merian Heer

Known for his scientific investigations of Jura Mountains, he also conducted extensive geological research of the

Black Forest The Black Forest (german: Schwarzwald ) is a large forested mountain range in the state of Baden-Württemberg in southwest Germany, bounded by the Rhine Valley to the west and south and close to the borders with France and Switzerland. It is t ...

, and performed comparison studies of the Germanic and Alpine

Triassic The Triassic ( ) is a geologic period and system (stratigraphy), system which spans 50.6 million years from the end of the Permian Period 251.902 million years ago (Year#Abbreviations yr and ya, Mya), to the beginning of the Jurassic Period 201.36 ...

stages. During his career, he amassed an impressive collection of fossils, and is credited for developing a classification schema for

ammonites Ammonoids are a group of extinct marine mollusc animals in the subclass Ammonoidea of the class Cephalopoda. These molluscs, commonly referred to as ammonites, are more closely related to living coleoids (i.e., octopuses, squid and cuttl ...

. In addition, he made contributions in the fields of

meteorology Meteorology is a branch of the atmospheric sciences (which include atmospheric chemistry and physics) with a major focus on weather forecasting. The study of meteorology dates back millennia, though significant progress in meteorology did no ...

and

glaciology Glaciology (; ) is the scientific study of glaciers, or more generally ice and natural phenomena that involve ice. Glaciology is an interdisciplinary Earth science that integrates geophysics, geology, physical geography, geomorphology, c ...

Selected works

* ''Uebersicht der Beschaffenheit der Gebirgsbildungen in den Umgebungen von Basel : mit besonderer Hinsicht auf das Juragebirge im Allgemeinen'', 1821 – Overview on the formation of mountains in the environs of Basel with particular regard to the Jura Mountains in general. * ''Uebersicht des Zustandes unserer Kenntniss der Naturkunde des Kantons Basel'', 1826 – Overview on the natural history of the

canton of Basel Basel was a canton of Switzerland that was in existence between 1501 and 1833, when it was split into the two half-cantons of Basel-City and Basel-Country. Background Before the Protestant Reformation, Basel was ruled by prince-bishops (see ...

. * ''Geognostische Uebersicht des südlichen Schwarzwaldes'', 1831 – Geognostic survey of the southern Black Forest. * ''Mittel und Hauptresultate aus den meteorologischen Beobachtungen in Basel von 1826 bis 1836'', 1838 – Means and main results of the meteorological observations in Basel from 1826 to 1836. * ''Ueber die Theorie der Gletscher'', 1843 – On the theory of

glacier A glacier (; ) is a persistent body of dense ice that is constantly moving under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires distinguishing features, such as ...

s.Sudoc
published works

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Merian, Peter 1795 births 1883 deaths 19th-century Swiss geologists Swiss paleontologists Scientists from Basel-Stadt University of Göttingen alumni

Peter Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a sur ...