Legacy
Werner was certainly the most influential geologist of the early portion of the Industrial Revolution. His extraordinary abilities as a lecturer attracted students from all over Europe, who then returned to their native countries and applied his teachings and concepts. Those applications immediately fomented debate, particularly over the origin of basalt, and are commonly referred to as the Neptunist-Plutonist controversy. That controversy was the focus of much geological activity through the end of the 18th century, and well into the 19th century.
The variety of scapolite known as wernerite is named in his honour. He is credited with coining the term geognosy, for the geological study of the Earth's structure, specifically its exterior and interior construction.
In 1805, he described the mineral zoisite and named it after Sigmund Zois, who sent him its specimens from Saualpe in Carinthia.
Read more about this topic: Abraham Gottlob Werner
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“What is popularly called fame is nothing but an empty name and a legacy from paganism.”
—Desiderius Erasmus (c. 1466–1536)