Biography
He was born at Vienna; his father, Karl Haidinger, contributed largely to the development of mineralogical science in the latter half of the 18th century. Having studied at the normal school of St Anne, and attended classes at the university, Wilhelm, at the age of seventeen, joined Professor Friedrich Mohs at Graz, and five years later accompanied the professor to Freiberg, Saxony, on the transfer of his labours to the mining academy of that town.
In 1822 Haidinger visited France and England with Count Breunner, and, journeying northward, took up his abode in Edinburgh. He translated into English, with additions of his own, Mohs's Grundriß der Mineralogie, published at Edinburgh in three volumes under the title Treatise on Mineralogy (1825). After a tour in northern Europe, including the Scandinavian mining districts, he undertook the scientific direction of the porcelain works at Elbogen, belonging to his brothers.
In 1840 he was appointed counsellor of mines (Bergrat) at Vienna in the place of Professor Mohs, a post which included the charge of the imperial cabinet of minerals. He devoted himself to the rearrangement and enrichment of the collections, and the museum became the finest in Europe. Shortly after 1843, Haidinger commenced a series of lectures on mineralogy, which was given to the world under the title Handbuch der bestimmenden Mineralogie (Vienna, 1845; tables, 1846).
After the establishment of the Imperial Geological Institute, he was chosen director in 1849; and this important position he occupied for seventeen years. He was elected a member of the imperial board of agriculture and mines, and a member of the Imperial Academy of Sciences of Vienna. He organized the society of the Freunde der Naturwissenschaften. In 1858, he was elected a foreign member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.
Read more about this topic: Wilhelm Karl Ritter Von Haidinger
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