Georgius Agricola, who
passed away on 21 November 1555, in Chemnitz, was a German scholar and
scientist known as “the father of mineralogy.” While a highly
educated classicist and humanist, well regarded by scholars of his own and
later times, he was yet singularly
independent of the theories of ancient authorities. He was indeed among the
first to found a natural science upon observation, as opposed to speculation.
His De re metallica dealt chiefly with the arts of mining
and smelting, and his De natura fossilium, considered the first
mineralogy textbook, presented the first scientific classification of minerals (based on their physical properties)
and described many new minerals and their occurrence and mutual relationships.
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