Johannes Walther (July 20, 1860 in

Neustadt an der Orla Neustadt an der Orla is a town in Saale-Orla-Kreis district, in Thuringia. It is situated at the small river Orla (Saale), Orla, 17 km north of Schleiz, and 25 km southeast of Jena. The former municipality Stanau was merged into Neustadt ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

– May 4, 1937 in

Bad Hofgastein Bad Hofgastein ( bar, Hofgoschdei) is a market town in the district of St. Johann im Pongau, in the Austrian state of Salzburg. The spa town is located in the Gastein Valley, a large ski resort belonging to the Ski Amadé network. Geography The ...

, Germany) was a German geologist who discovered important principles of

stratigraphy Stratigraphy is a branch of geology concerned with the study of rock (geology), rock layers (Stratum, strata) and layering (stratification). It is primarily used in the study of sedimentary rock, sedimentary and layered volcanic rocks. Stratigrap ...

, including

Walther's Law In geology, a facies ( , ; same pronunciation and spelling in the plural) is a body of rock with specified characteristics, which can be any observable attribute of rocks (such as their overall appearance, composition, or condition of formatio ...

.Norbert Hauschke, Silvia Isaac, Lars Schimpf, Martin Seiffert, Wolfgang Gossel (2010). ''Johannes Walther (1860 - 1937) zwischen Riff und Wüste - Spurensicherung in 3 D anlässlich seines 150.'' (''John Walther (1860 - 1937) between the reef and the desert - in 3D crime scene on the occasion of his 150th Birthday''). Halle (Saale). October 2010.

Early life and work

Walther came from a religious home and studied

botany Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek w ...

zoology Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the Animal, animal kingdom, including the anatomy, structure, embryology, evolution, Biological clas ...

, and

philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

at the

University of Jena The University of Jena, officially the Friedrich Schiller University Jena (german: Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena, abbreviated FSU, shortened form ''Uni Jena''), is a public research university located in Jena, Thuringia, Germany. The un ...

. In 1882 he successfully completed this course with a doctorate. Then he studied

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 Ear ...

and

palaeontology 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 ...

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as wel ...

and later

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

. The following year he worked at the

Stazione Zoologica The Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn is a research institute in Naples, Italy, devoted to basic research in biology. Research is largely interdisciplinary involving the fields of evolution, biochemistry, molecular biology, neurobiology, cell biol ...

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

as a lecturer, staying for two years. Among other things, he ran extensive sedimentological and biological studies. In 1885 he returned to Jena and

habilitated Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in many European countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excellence in research, teaching and further education, usually including a ...

there in 1886 with a thesis on

crinoid Crinoids are marine animals that make up the class Crinoidea. Crinoids that are attached to the sea bottom by a stalk in their adult form are commonly called sea lilies, while the unstalked forms are called feather stars or comatulids, which are ...

s. After travelling, he was appointed as a professor at Jena in 1890.

Later life

Walther moved to the

University of Halle Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg (german: Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg), also referred to as MLU, is a public, research-oriented university in the cities of Halle and Wittenberg and the largest and oldest university i ...

in 1906, staying until 1929. Whilst there, he was in 1924 elected president of the prestigious

German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina The German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina (german: Deutsche Akademie der Naturforscher Leopoldina – Nationale Akademie der Wissenschaften), short Leopoldina, is the national academy of Germany, and is located in Halle (Saale). Founded ...

, an office he held until 1931.

Publications

* ''The Law of Desertification in the Present and the Past'' (''Das Gesetz der Wüstenbildung in Gegenwart und Vorzeit''), 2007 reprint * ''Modern Lithogenesis'', 1883–84 * ''Introduction to geology as a historical science'' (''Einleitung in die Geologie als historische Wissenschaft''), 1893–94 * ''History of the Earth and Life'', (''Geschichte der Erde und des Lebens''), 1908 * ''General Palaeontology'' (''Allgemeine Paläontologie''), 1919–1927Allgemeine Paläontologie
(''General Palaeontology''), Volumes 1–3, Borntraeger, 548 pages. *

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Walther, Johannes 1860 births 1937 deaths People from Neustadt an der Orla People from Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach 19th-century German geologists