Wilhelm HisingerBorn 23 Dec 1766; died 28 Jun 1852 at age 85.Swedish mineralogist who inherited his father's iron works, and pursued science privately. From one of his iron mines at Bastnäs came a mineral of unusually high density. Hisinger distributed samples to several European chemical analysts. After his examination in 1803, Martin Klaproth suspected it held a new element. That year, both Hisinger and Jöns Berzelius isolated the new element. They named it cerium in recognition of Giussepe Piazzi's discovery of the new minor plant, Ceres, two years earlier (1 Jan 1801). In 1806, Hisinger investigated electricity's effect on salt solutions. He contributed to the geological knowledge of his country, and recorded finds of its animal and plant fossils. He also amassed fine rock, mineral and fossil collections, which he eventually gave to the Swedish natural history museum.« |
