WALLERIUS

WALLERIUS, Johan Gotschalk. (Born: Stora Mell¨osa, Nerke, Sweden, 11 July 1709; Died:
Uppsala, Sweden, 16 November 1785)
Wallerius studied at the University of Uppsala, then taught medicine at Lund, before returning to Uppsala in 1735 as a lecturer in medicine. As a member of the medical faculty, he taught physiology and anatomy, but he also had an interest in chemistry and mineralogy. To pursue these subjects, Wallerius set up a chemical laboratory, where experiments were carried out and lectures on chemistry, mineralogy and assaying given. In 1750, Wallerius was appointed to the newly created professorship of chemistry at Uppsala, in which capacity he served until failing health caused his retirement in 1767. He moved to the country, where he continued to pursue his natural history and agricultural studies.
His most important book was first edited in Swedish and appeared in 1747. The title is ‘ Mineralogia’ and is a book that established a firm foundation on which the science of mineralogy could grow. It has been described as “a summary of the whole mineralogical knowledge of the time.”[1] Never before in the history of mineralogy had a large number of minerals been presented so systematically and concisely.
Wallerius gives clear and precise descriptions of each mineral mentioned, including the name .... etc. He also for the first time gives more weight to essential chemical properties than to exterior appearance, which foretold a new epoch in mineralogy. His classification scheme which is related to that used by Linneaus’ and Bromell’s assigns an Order, Class, Genera and Species to each mineral individual. These mineral species are then more generally distributed into divisions of Terrae, Lapide, Minerae and Concreta. The work begins with a brief description of the history of mineralogy, followed by the systematic mineral descriptions.