Quenstedt, Friedrich

QUENSTEDT, FRIEDRICH

(b. Eisleben, Germany, 9 July 1809; d. Tübingen, Germany, 21 December 1889)

paleontology, mineralogy, geology.

In crystallography Quenstedt extended the work of Christian Weiss, and in geology that of Leopold von Buch. His most significant work concerned the paleontology and the stratigraphy of the Jurassic series of Swabia.

Quenstedt received his early education at Eisleben and studied mineralogy and geology at the University of Berlin under Weiss and von Buch. Me became associate professor of mineralogy and geology at Tübingen in 1837 and was named full professor in 1842. He held this post until his death. Because of his superior teaching ability Quenstedt attracted many students, and his dedication to paleontology aroused the interest in fossils of even the farmers in the areas surrounding Tübingen.

In his crystallographic writings Quenstedt extended the application of spherical geometry to crystallography, a technique introduced by Weiss. Von Buch had provided the basis for the geology of the Swabian Jura, but Quenstedt made important additions. He subdivided each of the three principal divisions of the Jura into six zones on the basis of petrographical development and paleontological evidence. He did not, however, compare the succession of Jurassic rocks found in Swabia with those in other countries. Quensledt’s Petrefaktenkunde Deutschlands published in seven parts over thirty-eight years, contained 218 plates and was one of the best reference works on vertebrate fossils of the period.

For years before the publication of the Darwinian theory, Quenstedt taught that species were not sharply defined—that not only could variations be found in the same stratigraphic horizon, but also that the same species could be seen in several horizons. This approach was thus opposed to catastrophism, and his thinking was distinctly phylogenetic. His methods and views often brought him into sharp conflict with many of his contemporaries.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Quenstedt’s chief publications were Methode der Krystallographie (Tübingen, 1840); Das Flözgehirge Wörttembergs (Tübingen, 1843); Petrefaktenkunde Deutsehlands 7 pts. (Tübingen, 1846–1884); Über Lepidotus im Lias and Württembergs (Tübingen, 1847); Beitrage zur rechnenden Krystallographie (Tübingen, 1848); Handubuch der Petre-faktenkunde (Tübingen, 1852); Handubuch der Mineralogie (Tübingen, 1854); Der Jura (Tübingen, 1856); Sonst und Jetzt: Populäare Vorträge Über Geologie (Tübingen, 1856); Epoehen der Natur (Tübingen, 1861); Geologische Ausfluge in Schwaben (Tübingen, 1864); Schwäbens Medusenhaupt (Tübingen, 1868); Klar und Wahr (Tübingen, 1872); Neue Reihc populaärer Vorträge Über Geologie (Tübingen, 1872); Grundriss der besimmenden und rechnenden Krystallo-graphic (Tübingen, 1873); and Die Ammoniten des schwabischen Jura, 3 vols, and atlas (Stuttgart, 1882–1889). Quenstedt also published approximately 40 articles in various scientific journals; see Royal Society Catalogue of Scientific Papers, V, 54–55; VIII, 678; XI, 84.

A brief biography is A. Rothpletz, “Friedrich Quenstedt,” in Allgemeine deutsche Biographie, LIII, 179–180.

John G. Burke