A century of science in America : $b with special reference to the American Journal of Science, 1818-1918
History
A century of science in America : $b with special reference to the American Journal of Science, 1818-1918
American journal of science; Science -- United States -- History
Unquestionably the foremost figure in American mineralogy during this
period was that of Samuel L. Penfield. He embodied in an unusual degree
the characters making for success in this science, for few investigators
in mineralogy have shown, as he did, equal facility in all branches of
descriptive mineralogy. He was a skilled chemist and possessed in a high
degree that ingenuity in manipulation so necessary to a great analyst.
He was also an accurate and resourceful crystallographer and optical
mineralogist. His contributions to the science of mineralogy can be
partially judged by the following brief summary of his work. He
published over eighty mineralogical papers, practically all of which
were printed in the Journal. These included the descriptions of fourteen
new mineral species, the establishment of the chemical composition of
more than twenty others, and the crystallization of about a dozen more.
By a series of brilliant investigations he established the isomorphism
between fluorine and the hydroxyl radical. He first enunciated the
theory that the crystalline form of a mineral was due to the mass effect
of the acid present rather than that of the bases. He contributed also a
number of articles on the stereographic projection and its use in
crystallographic investigations, devising a series of protractors and
scales to make possible the rapid and accurate use of this projection in
solving problems in crystallography.
Penfield was born in 1856, was graduated from the Sheffield Scientific
School in 1877 and immediately became an assistant in the chemical
laboratory of that institution. At this time he, together with his
colleague Horace L. Wells, made the analyses of the minerals from the
newly discovered Branchville locality. He spent the years 1880 and 1881
in studying chemistry in Germany, returning to Yale as an instructor in
mineralogy in the fall of 1881. Except for another semester in Europe at
Heidelberg he continued as instructor and professor of mineralogy in the
Sheffield Scientific School until his early death in 1906.
It is difficult to choose for mention the names of other investigators
in Mineralogy during this period. Toward its end a great many writers
contributed to the pages of the Journal, more than fifty different names
being counted for the volumes =41= to =50= of the Third Series. Many of
these are still living and still active in scientific research. Mention
should be made of Frank W. Clarke, who contributed many important
articles concerning the chemical constitution of the silicates. His work
on the mica and zeolite groups is especially noteworthy. The work of W.
H. Hillebrand, particularly in regard to his analytical investigations
of the minerals containing the rarer elements, was of great importance.
The name of W. E. Hidden should be remembered, because, with his keen
and discriminating eye and active search for new mineral localities, he
was able to make many additions to the science.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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