A crystal model is a teaching aid used for understanding concepts in crystallography and the morphology of crystals. Models are ideal to learn recognizing symmetry elements in crystals.
The first real collections of crystal models were produced by Romé de l'Isle. He actually offered sets of small (ca 3 cm) models made of "terra cotta" in order to stimulate the sales of the expensive four-volume set of his book "Cristallographie" (1783). [2] [3] The models were manufactured by his co-workers Arnould Carangeot, Lhermina and Swebach-Desfontaines, who produced numerous large sets (up to 448 models in each set). In order to exactly transfer interplanar angles from natural crystals to the terra cotta models, Carangeot invented and designed a prototype of a contact goniometer. This instrument, that proved to be an invaluable tool in geometric crystallography, enabled the measurement of interplanar angles with a precision of about half a degree. Teylers Museum in Haarlem has a complete set of these terracotta models that were bought in Paris (in 1785) by Martin van Marum, the first director of the museum. After over 200 years, this collection is still complete and in perfect condition at Teylers Museum.
Almost two decades later, René Just Haüy introduced wooden crystal models to illustrate the two-dimensional drawings in the atlas volume of his "Traité de Minéralogie" (1801). [4] For the production of crystal models, wood appeared to be much more convenient than clay. Especially pear wood permitted getting smooth faces, sharp edges and accurate dihedral angles required for the production of these three-dimensional objects. In general, the angular accuracy was very high and some models, especially those illustrating crystal twins and Haüy's figures of decrement, still appear as masterpieces of fine woodwork and carving. Skilful craftsmen such as Pleuvin, Beloeuf and Lambotin (to name only a few) became specialists in this field and the models they offered were highly esteemed.
Between 1802 and 1804, Martin van Marum bought 597 of these pear wood models, 550 of these are still present in the collection of Teylers Museum. [5] Each model is labeled, mentioning a number and the name of the crystal form. This set is the most complete collection of Haüy crystal models that still survives. That Van Marum was able to acquire such a unique collection was due to his networking. Van Marum allowed Haüy as a member of the Hollandsche Maatschappij, a nomination to which Haüy attached great value. Haüy mentioned this membership in all of his publications.
After their introduction by Romé de l'Isle and Haüy, crystal models were increasingly demanded both by scholars for teaching purposes as well as by mineral collectors. The quality of the models improved due to the technical progress in their production. Several mineralogists and crystallographers started designing their own series of models. Although pear wood kept a prominent place, models were also manufactured using materials like plaster, cast iron, lead, brass, glass, porcelain, cardboard, etc. [6]
In 1833, Adam August Krantz (who studied pharmacy and later "Geognosie" at the Bergakademie Freiberg) founded the Krantz company in Bonn. Four years later, Krantz moved to Berlin and sold minerals, fossils, rocks and basically acquired a monopoly in the production of crystal models made of pear wood or walnut. Ever since its foundation, the firm was always in contact with renowned scientists and important collectors. Hence in 1880, Krantz proposed a series of 743 pear wood models compiled for teaching purposes by the crystallographer Paul Groth. [7] Seven years later, a supplementary collection of 213 models was available.
At the onset of the 20th century, Friedrich Krantz (a nephew of August Krantz, with a degree in mineralogy) supported by his teacher the crystallographer Carl Hintze, offered a collection of 928 models including most of the Groth models. Later, and along with many other productions, a Dana collection of 282 models was manufactured. Krantz offered a choice of collections of wooden models in different sizes (5, 10, 15–25 cm). In addition, he sold a variety of glass models having the crystallographic axes illustrated by colored silk threads or with the holohedral form made of cardboard inside. Also available were models in massive cut and polished glass (colored and uncolored), cardboard models, wire crystal models, crystal lattice models, models with rotating parts, etc. Over the years, Krantz published numerous detailed catalogues of the collections he offered; they constitute a precious documentation. [8]
Mineralogy is a subject of geology specializing in the scientific study of the chemistry, crystal structure, and physical properties of minerals and mineralized artifacts. Specific studies within mineralogy include the processes of mineral origin and formation, classification of minerals, their geographical distribution, as well as their utilization.
René Just Haüy FRS MWS FRSE was a French priest and mineralogist, commonly styled the Abbé Haüy after he was made an honorary canon of Notre Dame. Due to his innovative work on crystal structure and his four-volume Traité de Minéralogie (1801), he is often referred to as the "Father of Modern Crystallography". During the French revolution he also helped to establish the metric system.
Teylers Museum is an art, natural history, and science museum in Haarlem, Netherlands. Established in 1778, Teylers Museum was founded as a centre for contemporary art and science. The historic centre of the museum is the neoclassical Oval Room (1784), which was built behind the house of Pieter Teyler van der Hulst (1702–1778), the so-called Fundatiehuis. Pieter Teyler was a wealthy cloth merchant and banker of Scottish descent, who bequeathed his fortune for the advancement of religion, art, and science. He was a Mennonite and follower of the Scottish Enlightenment.
Paul Niggli was a Swiss crystallographer, mineralogist, and petrologist who was a leader in the field of X-ray crystallography.
Martin(us) van Marum was a Dutch physician, inventor, scientist and teacher, who studied medicine and philosophy in Groningen. Van Marum introduced modern chemistry in the Netherlands after the theories of Lavoisier, and several scientific applications for general use. He became famous for his demonstrations with instruments, most notable the Large electricity machine, to show statical electricity and chemical experiments while curator for the Teylers Museum.
Andrias scheuchzeri is an extinct species of giant salamander belonging to the genus Andrias, which also contains the closely related living Asian giant salamanders. It is known from Oligocene to Pliocene aged deposits primarily from Central Europe, but possibly as far east as Western Siberia and eastern Kazakhstan.
Georg Wulff, Georgy Wulff or Yuri Viktorovich Vulf was a pioneer Russian crystallographer.
The Musée de Minéralogie is a museum of mineralogy operated by the École nationale supérieure des mines de Paris. It is located in the 6th arrondissement at 60, boulevard Saint Michel, Paris, France, and open daily except Sunday and Monday; an admission fee is charged.
The Musée de minéralogie is a museum in Strasbourg in the Bas-Rhin department of France. It belongs to the University of Strasbourg, and displays historical collections of minerals. The museum was founded in 1890.
Johann Friedrich Christian Hessel was a German physician and professor of mineralogy at the University of Marburg.
The so-called Top of the Mont Blanc is a collection piece on display in the Oval Room of Teylers Museum. The specimen was cut off from the highest findable piece of exposed rock of the Rocher de la Tournette, 4,677 metres (15,344 ft) high on the snow covered summit ridge of the Mont Blanc on 3 August 1787, during one of the first climbs of the mountain by the Swiss scientific pioneer Horace Bénédict de Saussure.
The large electrostatic generator is a large handcrafted electromechanical instrument designed by Martin van Marum and built by John Cuthbertson in 1784 for the Teylers Museum in Haarlem, where it forms the centerpiece of the instrument room. The concept of an electrostatic generator was new, and the battery (array) of leiden jars was the largest ever built. The two glass disks of the triboelectric generator are 1.65 meters in diameter, and the machine is capable of generating a potential of 330,000 volts.
Georgius Agricola is considered the 'father of mineralogy'. Nicolas Steno founded the stratigraphy, the geology characterizes the rocks in each layer and the mineralogy characterizes the minerals in each rock. The chemical elements were discovered in identified minerals and with the help of the identified elements the mineral crystal structure could be described. One milestone was the discovery of the geometrical law of crystallization by René Just Haüy, a further development of the work by Nicolas Steno and Jean-Baptiste L. Romé de l'Isle. Important contributions came from some Saxon "Bergraths"/ Freiberg Mining Academy: Johann F. Henckel, Abraham Gottlob Werner and his students. Other milestones were the notion that metals are elements too and the periodic table of the elements by Dmitri Ivanovich Mendeleev. The overview of the organic bonds by Kekulé was necessary to understand the silicates, first refinements described by Bragg and Machatschki; and it was only possibly to understand a crystal structure with Dalton's atomic theory, the notion of atomic orbital and Goldschmidt's explanations. Specific gravity, streak and X-ray powder diffraction are quite specific for a Nickel-Strunz identifier. Nowadays, non-destructive electron microprobe analysis is used to get the empirical formula of a mineral. Finally, the International Zeolite Association (IZA) took care of the zeolite frameworks.
Albrecht Schrauf was an Austrian mineralogist and crystallographer.
Serve-Dieu Abailard "Armand" Lévy was a French mathematician and mineralogist. He is remembered in the Haüy-Lévy notation for describing mineral crystal structures.
Theodor Liebisch was a German mineralogist and crystallographer.
Zeitschrift für Kristallographie – Crystalline Materials is a monthly peer-reviewed scientific journal published in English. The journal publishes theoretical and experimental studies in crystallography of both organic and inorganic substances. The editor-in-chief of the journal is Rainer Pöttgen from the University of Münster. The journal was founded in 1877 under the title Zeitschrift für Krystallographie und Mineralogie by crystallographer and mineralogist Paul Heinrich von Groth, who served as the editor for 44 years. It has used several titles over its history, with the present title having been adopted in 2010. The journal is indexed in a variety of databases and has a 2020 impact factor of 1.616.
This is a timeline of crystallography.
Gabriel Delafosse was a French mineralogist who worked at the Natural History Museum in Paris and for sometime at the University of Paris. He contributed to development of the idea of unit cells in crystallography. The mineral Delafossite is named after him. He was one of the founding members of the Société Geologique de France.
Yordanka Hristova Mincheva - Stefanova, aka Jordanka Mincheva - Stefanova, Jordanka Minčeva-Stefanova, was a Bulgarian geologist, mineralogist and crystallographer. Her scientific interests were in sulphide mineralogy, crystal chemistry and genesis of minerals - sulphides, carbonates, arsenates, silicates etc.
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