Mohs, Friedrich#
b. Gernrode (Germany), Jan. 29, 1773, d. Agordo near Belluno (Italy), Sept. 29, 1839 mineralogist and mining expert. Founder of scientific mineralogy and geognostical land survey in Austria; from 1802 professor in Vienna, from 1811 director of the Joanneum and initiator of systematic geo-scientific studies of the province of Styria; 1818 taught at Freiberg (Saxony), 1826 taught in Vienna, 1835 head of the Mining and Metallurgy Museum in Vienna. Introduced a mineral system based on merely external features and the "Mohs scale of hardness"; extensive mineralogical-geological research work in Austria.
Works#
Versuch einer Elementar-Methode zur naturhistorischen Bestimmung und Erkennung von Fossilien, 1812; Grundriss der Mineralogie, 2 parts, 1822/1824; Leichtfassliche Anfangsgruende der Naturgeschichte des Mineralreiches, 1832.Literature#
OeBL; NDB.