Waldemar Christofer Brøgger

FRSE Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and Literature, letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". ...

(10 November 185117 February 1940) was a Norwegian

geologist A geologist is a scientist who studies the structure, composition, and History of Earth, history of Earth. Geologists incorporate techniques from physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics, and geography to perform research in the Field research, ...

and

mineralogist Mineralogy is a subject of geology specializing in the scientific study of the chemistry, crystal structure, and physical (including optical mineralogy, optical) properties of minerals and mineralized artifact (archaeology), artifacts. Specific s ...

. His research on

Permian The Permian ( ) is a geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system which spans 47 million years, from the end of the Carboniferous Period million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Triassic Period 251.902 Mya. It is the s ...

igneous rock Igneous rock ( ), or magmatic rock, is one of the three main rock types, the others being sedimentary and metamorphic. Igneous rocks are formed through the cooling and solidification of magma or lava. The magma can be derived from partial ...

s (286 to 245 million years ago) of the Oslo district greatly advanced petrologic theory on the formation of rocks.

Biography

He was born in Christiania (now

Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

. He was the son of Anton Wilhelm Brøgger (1820–1882) and Oline (“Lina”) Marie Bjerring (1826–1905). He attended

Oslo Cathedral School Schola Osloensis, known in Norwegian language, Norwegian as Oslo Katedralskole (''Oslo Cathedral School'') and more commonly as "Katta",

and graduated in 1870. He studied science and zoology under

Theodor Kjerulf Theodor Kjerulf (30 March 182525 October 1888) was a Norway, Norwegian geologist and professor at the University of Oslo. He also served as director of the Norwegian Geological Survey. Biography He was born in Oslo, Christiania (now Oslo), Norway ...

at University of Christiania (now

University of Oslo The University of Oslo (; ) is a public university, public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation#Europe, oldest university in Norway. Originally named the Royal Frederick Univ ...

). He was Cand. filos. (1870) and delivered his dissertation in 1875. Brøgger was then immediately employed in the Norwegian Geological Survey as an assistant. In the winter of 1875–76, he made a study trip together with fellow student Hans Reusch (1852–1922) to Corsica and Elba. The two jointly published an illustrated work, ''Jættegryder ved Christiania'' (Copenhagen. 1874) which was also published in German and English. He became an

amanuensis An amanuensis ( ) ( ) or scribe is a person employed to write or type what another dictates or to copy what has been written by another. It may also be a person who signs a document on behalf of another under the latter's authority. In some aca ...

at the

Stockholm University Stockholm University (SU) () is a public university, public research university in Stockholm, Sweden, founded as a college in 1878, with university status since 1960. With over 33,000 students at four different faculties: law, humanities, social ...

mineral cabinet (1876) and research fellow (1878). From 1881 to 1890, he was professor of

mineralogy Mineralogy is a subject of geology specializing in the scientific study of the chemistry, crystal structure, and physical (including optical mineralogy, optical) properties of minerals and mineralized artifact (archaeology), artifacts. Specific s ...

and

geology Geology (). is a branch of natural science concerned with the Earth and other astronomical objects, the rocks of which they are composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Earth ...

. From 1890 to 1916 was Professor of Mineralogy and Palaeontology in the University of Christiania. He was Dean of the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences (1899-1902) and became rector of the senate of University of Christiania (1907-1911). His observations on the

s of

South Tyrol South Tyrol ( , ; ; ), officially the Autonomous Province of Bolzano – South Tyrol, is an autonomous administrative division, autonomous provinces of Italy, province in northern Italy. Together with Trentino, South Tyrol forms the autonomo ...

compared with those of Christiania afford much information on the relations of the

granitic A granitoid is a broad term referring to a diverse group of coarse-grained igneous rocks that are widely distributed across the globe, covering a significant portion of the Earth's exposed surface and constituting a large part of the continental ...

and basic rocks. The subject of the differentiation of rock-types in the process of solidification as

pluton In geology, an igneous intrusion (or intrusive body or simply intrusion) is a body of intrusive igneous rock that forms by crystallization of magma slowly cooling below the surface of the Earth. Intrusions have a wide variety of forms and com ...

ic or volcanic rocks from a particular

magma Magma () is the molten or semi-molten natural material from which all igneous rocks are formed. Magma (sometimes colloquially but incorrectly referred to as ''lava'') is found beneath the surface of the Earth, and evidence of magmatism has also ...

received much attention from him. He dealt also with the

Palaeozoic The Paleozoic ( , , ; or Palaeozoic) Era is the first of three geological eras of the Phanerozoic Eon. Beginning 538.8 million years ago (Ma), it succeeds the Neoproterozoic (the last era of the Proterozoic Eon) and ends 251.9 Ma at the start of ...

rocks of Norway, and with the late

glacial A glacier (; or ) is a persistent body of dense ice, a form of rock, that is constantly moving downhill under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires ...

and post-glacial changes of

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an mean, average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal Body of water, bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical ...

in the Christiania region. He is credited for proposing that

pegmatite A pegmatite is an igneous rock showing a very coarse texture, with large interlocking crystals usually greater in size than and sometimes greater than . Most pegmatites are composed of quartz, feldspar, and mica, having a similar silicic c ...

s form through the interaction of

silicate A silicate is any member of a family of polyatomic anions consisting of silicon and oxygen, usually with the general formula , where . The family includes orthosilicate (), metasilicate (), and pyrosilicate (, ). The name is also used ...

melt and supercritical water. Credit for this discovery is often given to Richard H. Jahns.

Selected works

*''Jættegryder ved Christiania'' (with Hans Reusch. 1874) *''Paradoxidesskifrene ved Krekling'' (1878) *''Die Mineralien der Syenitpegmatitgänge der südnorwegischen Augit- und Nephelinsyenite'' (1890) *''Fridtjof Nansen 1861–1893'' (with Nordahl Rolfsen, 1896)

Awards

In 1895 Brøgger was appointed a knight of the 1st class in the

Order of St. Olav The Royal Norwegian Order of Saint Olav (; or ''Sanct Olafs Orden'', the old Norwegian name) is a Norwegian order of chivalry instituted by King Oscar I on 21 August 1847. It is named after King Olav II, known to posterity as St. Olav. Just be ...

and was in 1902 promoted to commander with a star. He was awarded the Grand Cross of the Order of the White Rose of Finland, was commander of the first class of the Swedish Order of the North Star and a knight of the

Order of Dannebrog The Order of the Dannebrog () is a Danish order of chivalry instituted in 1671 by Christian V. Until 1808, membership in the Order was limited to fifty members of noble or royal rank, who formed a single class known as ''White Knights'' t ...

. He was a member of the

Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences () is one of the Swedish Royal Academies, royal academies of Sweden. Founded on 2 June 1739, it is an independent, non-governmental scientific organization that takes special responsibility for promoting nat ...

from 1890 and a fellow of the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

. The honorary degree of Ph.D. was conferred upon him by the

University of Heidelberg Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg (; ), is a public university, public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Founded in 1386 on instruction of Pope Urban VI, Heidelberg is List ...

and that of LL.D. by the

University of Glasgow The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals; ) is a Public university, public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the List of oldest universities in continuous ...

in 1901. He was awarded the Murchison Medal in 1891 and the Wollaston Medal in 1911, both 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 ...

Personal life

He was married in 1878 to Antonie Sophie Wilhelmine Scheel Siewers (1854–1933). He died in Oslo in 1940 and was buried at Vår Frelsers gravlund. Brøgger's son, Anton Wilhelm Brøgger (1851–1940), was a politician. Anton Wilhelm's son, writer Waldemar Christofer Brøgger (1911–1991), was named after his grandfather.

References

Attribution: *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Brogger, Waldemar Christofer 1851 births 1940 deaths 19th-century Norwegian geologists 20th-century Norwegian geologists Academic staff of Stockholm University Academic staff of the University of Oslo Burials at the Cemetery of Our Saviour Foreign associates of the National Academy of Sciences Foreign members of the Royal Society Members of the Royal Society of Sciences in Uppsala Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences Members of the Storting 1907–1909 Murchison Medal winners Norwegian mineralogists Rectors of the University of Oslo Scientists from Oslo University of Oslo alumni Wollaston Medal winners Fellows_of_the_Royal_Society_of_Edinburgh