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Jean-Étienne Guettard | |
|---|---|
 Jean-Étienne Guettard | |
| Born | 22 September 1715 |
| Died | 7 January 1786(1786-01-07) (aged 70) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | naturalist mineralogy |
| Author abbrev. (botany) | Guett. |
Jean-Étienne Guettard (22 September 1715 – 7 January 1786), was a Frenchnaturalist andmineralogist. He was born atÉtampes, near Paris.
In boyhood, he gained a knowledge ofplants from his grandfather, who was anapothecary, and later he qualified as adoctor in medicine. Pursuing the study ofbotany in various parts ofFrance and other countries, he began to take notice of the relation between the distribution of plants and thesoils andsubsoils. In this way his attention came to be directed tominerals androcks.[1]
In 1746, he communicated to theAcademy of Sciences inParis a memoir on the distribution of minerals and rocks, and this was accompanied by amap on which he had recorded his observations. He thus, as remarked byW. D. Conybeare, "first carried into execution the idea, proposed byMartin Lister years before, ofgeological maps." In the course of his journeys he made a large collection offossils and figured many of them, but he had no clear ideas about the sequence ofstrata.[1]
He made observations also on thedegradation of mountains by rain, rivers and sea; and he was the first to ascertain the existence of formervolcanoes in the district ofAuvergne.[1]
In 1759, Guettard was elected a foreign member of theRoyal Swedish Academy of Sciences.
He died in Paris on 7 January 1786.[1]
His publications include:
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Guettard, Jean Étienne".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 12 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 673.