Déodat Gratet de Dolomieu
Déodat Gratet de Dolomieu | |
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Sovereign and Military Order of the Knights of Saint John (Knights Hospitaller, Knights of Malta) | |
Scientific career | |
Fields | Geology Mineralogy Volcanology |
Dieudonné Sylvain Guy Tancrède de Gratet de Dolomieu usually known as Déodat de Dolomieu (French pronunciation: [deɔda də dɔlɔmjø]; 23 June 1750 – 28 November 1801) was a French geologist. The mineral and the rock dolomite and the largest summital crater on the Piton de la Fournaise volcano were named after him.
Biography
Déodat de Dolomieu was born in
Career
During the years prior to the
His contemporary, James Hutton, did not publish the principle of uniformitarianism until 1795. Dolomieu was an observationalist and spent much of his time collecting and categorizing geological data. Unlike Hutton, no scientific principles or theories are credited to him, although he left his permanent mark on geology in another way: that is by discovering the mineral dolomite that would be named after him.[2]
Geology of the Dolomites
During one of his voyages to the
Knights of Malta
In addition to his scientific activities Dolomieu continued to advance in rank in the Knights of Malta and was promoted to commander in 1780. However, he continued to have difficulties because his liberal political leanings were unpopular among the conservative nobility who controlled the Order. De Dolomieu retired from active military service in 1780 to devote all of his time to travels and scientific work.
French Revolution
De Dolomieu was at first a strong partisan of the
Bonaparte era
By 1798 De Dolomieu had developed an international reputation as one of the leading geologists in the world and was invited to join the scientific expedition accompanying Bonaparte's
The imprisonment of a world-famous scientist, under such conditions, was abhorrent to the intellectual community of Europe. Even the scientific community of England (which was at war with France) protested the confinement.
Upon his liberation Dolomieu resumed his scientific studies and field excursions. But his health, broken by the long imprisonment in Sicily, gave way during a trip to the Alps. Déodat de Dolomieu died on 28 November 1801 at the home of his sister at Châteauneuf.
Works
- Voyage aux iles de Lipari (in French). Paris: Gaspard-Joseph Cuchet. 1783.
Legacy
Dolomieu's student and famous naturalist Jean-Baptiste Bory de Saint-Vincent gave his name in 1801 to the largest summital crater of the Piton de la Fournaise volcano on the French island of Réunion, the cratère Dolomieu.
References
- ^ Hooykaas, R. (1970). Catastrophism in Geology: Its Scientific Character in Relation to Actualism and Uniformitarianism. Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen, Afdeling Letterkunde, 33 (7): 271-316.
- ^ Déodat de Gratet de Dolomieu. Oxford Reference.
- ISBN 9782748312386.
- ^ On p.41 of part 3 of his book Systema naturae per regna tria naturae, Secundum Classes, Ordines, Genera, species cum characteribus & differentiis published in 1768 by Laurentii Salvii, Homiae, 236 p., Linnaeus stated clearly: "Marmor tardum - Marmor particulis subimpalpabilius album diaphanum. Hoc simile quartzo durum, distinctum quod cum aqua forti non, nisi post aliquot minuta & fero, effervescens". In translation: "slow marble - marble, white and transparent with barely discernable particles. This is as hard as quartz, but it is different in that does not, unless after a few minutes, effervesce with 'aqua forti'"
- ISBN 9788562418938. Archived from the originalon 2013-11-12. Retrieved 2017-10-31.
- ISSN 0583-6050.
- PMID 18700306.
- ^ Kunz, George F. "Déodat Dolomieu." Science Monthly. Volume 8, pages 527–536. June, 1919. (Based on Alfred Lacroix. "Notice Historique sur Déodat Dolomieu,1750–1801." 88 pages, portrait, 1918)
- ^ Kunz, George F. "Un Manuscrit [sic] inédit de Dolomieu sur la Minéralogie du Dauphiné." Science. Volume 50, number 373, pages 373–374. October 17, 1919.
Bibliography
- Carozzi, A. V.; Zenger, D. H. (1981). "On a type of calcareous rock that reacts very slightly with acid and that phosphoresces on being struck (translation, with notes of Dolomieu's paper, 1791)". Journal of Geological Education. 29: 4–10.
- Dolomieu, D. G. de (October 1791). "Sur un de pierres trés-peu effervescentes avec les acides of phosphorescentes par la collision". Journal de Physique. 39: 3–10.
- Zenger, D. H., Bourrouilh-Le Jan, F. G. and Carozzi, A. V. (1994). "Dolomieu and the first description of dolomite". In Purser, B.; Tucker, M.; Zenger, D. (eds.). Dolomites A volume in honor of Dolomieu. International Association of Sedimentologists: Special Publication 21. pp. 21–28. ISBN 0-632-03787-3.)
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link - Charles-Vallin, T. (2003). Les aventures du chevalier géologue Déodat de Dolomieu. Presses Universitaires de Grenoble, Grenoble. pp. 296 p.
- Gaudant, J., ed. (2005). Dolomieu et la géologie de son temps. Les Presses de l'École des Mines de Paris, Paris. pp. 200 p.
- Caminada, P. (2006). Das abenteuerliche Leben des Forschungsreisenden Déodat de Dolomieu 1750 - 1801. Projekte Verlag, Halle. pp. 285 p.