Goldschmidt, Victor
GOLDSCHMIDT, VICTOR
GOLDSCHMIDT, VICTOR (1853–1933), German crystallographer and inventor. Goldschmidt, who was born in Mainz, was appointed teacher at Heidelberg University in 1888, and professor in 1893. Among his publications were Index der Krystallformen der Mineralien (3 vols., 1887–91), a catalog of the forms on the crystals of minerals, and Krystallographische Winkeltabellen (1897), a collection of tables of angles in crystal formation. His chief work, however, was his Atlas der Krystallformen (1913–23), a compilation of all published figures of crystals of minerals, in nine volumes. His researches into number series appearing in crystal symbols resulted in his formulation of a theory of number and harmony involving a consideration of musical and color harmonies. Goldschmidt was the inventor of the bicircular goniometer, used in measuring angles. He was baptized.
bibliography:
L. Milch, in: Festschrift Victor Goldschmidt (1928), includes bibliography; C. Palache, in: American Mineralogist, 19 (1934), 106–11 (includes bibliography); L.J. Spencer, in: Mineralogical Magazine, 24 (1936), 287–9; Neue Deutsche Biographie, 6 (1964).