Wilhelm Joseph Grailich (16 February 1829, in

Pressburg Bratislava (, also ; ; german: Preßburg/Pressburg ; hu, Pozsony) is the capital and largest city of Slovakia. Officially, the population of the city is about 475,000; however, it is estimated to be more than 660,000 — approximately 140% of ...

– 13 September 1859, in

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

) was an Austrian

physicist A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe. Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate caus ...

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 crystallographer.

Education

From 1847, Grailich studied sciences at the polytechnic institute in Vienna.

Career

Grailich served as an assistant to

Andreas von Ettingshausen Andreas Freiherr von Ettingshausen (25 November 1796 – 25 May 1878) was an Austrian mathematician and physicist. Biography Ettingshausen studied philosophy and jurisprudence at the University of Vienna. In 1817, he joined the University of Vi ...

in the institute of physics at 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 histor ...

. In 1856 he became an assistant at the ''Hofmineraliencabinett'', where soon afterwards, he succeeded Gustav Adolf Kenngott as " kustos-adjunkt". In 1857 he became an associate professor of higher physics at the university, and in 1859, was chosen as a member of the Vienna Academy of Sciences. Grailich, Wilhelm Joseph
@ NDB/ADB Deutsche Biographie In 1910, a thoroughfare in the Landstrasse district of Vienna was named ''Grailichgasse'' in his honor. Known for his work in

crystal optics Crystal optics is the branch of optics that describes the behaviour of light in '' anisotropic media'', that is, media (such as crystals) in which light behaves differently depending on which direction the light is propagating. The index of refrac ...

and crystal physics, he was the author of numerous scientific papers in the field of crystallography. In 1856, he translated

William Hallowes Miller Prof William Hallowes Miller FRS HFRSE LLD DCL (6 April 180120 May 1880) was a Welsh mineralogist and laid the foundations of modern crystallography. Miller indices are named after him, the method having been described in his ''Treatise on Cry ...

's textbook of crystallography into German as "''Lehrbuch der Kristallographie''". He explained the phenomenon of

fluorescence Fluorescence is the emission of light by a substance that has absorbed light or other electromagnetic radiation. It is a form of luminescence. In most cases, the emitted light has a longer wavelength, and therefore a lower photon energy, tha ...

in crystals, and is credited for making improvements to Wheatstone's vibration apparatus (in German: "''Schwingungsapparat''").

Personal life

His full name was Andreas Wilhelm Joseph Grailich, he was son of Friedrich Joseph Grailich (teacher in the Lutheran School in Pressburg) and Carolina Neidherr. His grandfather was Andreas Grailich. On September 30, 1859, Grailich died in Vienna at the age of 30. His wife was Carolina Augusta von Ettingshausen, daughter of

. His daughter was Auguste Grailich, mother of

Rudolf Allers Rudolf Allers (13 January 1883, Vienna, Vienna, Austria-Hungary - 14 December 1963, Hyattsville, Maryland, USA) was an Austrians, Austrian psychiatrist who was a member of the first group of the founder of psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud. Life an ...

Selected works

* ''Untersuchungen über den Ein- und Zweiaxigen Glimmer'', 1853 - Studies on uniaxial and biaxial

mica Micas ( ) are a group of silicate minerals whose outstanding physical characteristic is that individual mica crystals can easily be split into extremely thin elastic plates. This characteristic is described as perfect basal cleavage. Mica is ...

. * ''Das Sklerometer, ein Apparat zur genaueren Messung der Harte der Krystalle'', 1854 - (with F Pekárek) - The

sclerometer The sclerometer, also known as the Turner-sclerometer (from grc, σκληρός meaning "hard"), is an instrument used by metallurgists, material scientists and mineralogists to measure the scratch hardness of materials. It was invented in 1896 ...

, an instrument for accurate measurement of the hardness of crystals. * ''Untersuchungen über die physikalische Verhältnisse krystallisirter Körper'', 1858 (with

Viktor von Lang Viktor von Lang (2 March 1838 – 3 July 1921) was an Austrian chemist. He is counted among the pioneers and founders of crystal physics. Career Lang earned his doctorate from the University of Giessen in 1859 with a thesis titled "Physikalisch ...

) - Studies on the physical conditions of crystallized bodies. * ''Der Römerit, ein neues Mineral aus dem Rammelsberge, nebst Bemerkungen über die Bleiglätte'', 1858 - Romerite, a new mineral from the

Rammelsberg The Rammelsberg is a mountain, high, on the northern edge of the Harz range, south of the historic town of Goslar in the North German state of Lower Saxony. The mountain is the location of an important silver, copper, and lead mine, the only mine ...

. * ''Krystallographisch-optische Untersuchungen'', 1858 - Crystallographic-optical studies.WorldCat Identities
Most widely held works by J Grailich

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grailich, Wilhelm Josef 1829 births 1859 deaths Academic staff of the University of Vienna Austrian mineralogists 19th-century Austrian physicists Crystallographers Scientists from Bratislava