NORDENSKIöLD, Nils Adolf Erik von.
(1832 – 1901)
Nordenskiöld's ancestors originally came from Sweden, but for several generations had settled in Finland. His father, Nils Gustav Nordenskiöld, was both a mineralogist and an explorer. After applying himself especially to chemistry and mineralogy, he graduated from the University of Helsingfors in 1853, and accompanied his father on an expedition to the Urals Mountains of Russia to study the iron and copper mines at Tagilsk. In 1855, Nordenskiöld traveled to Berlin to continue his mineralogical studies. He returned to Helsingfors receiving his masters and doctorate degrees. However, differences with the Russian authorities caused him to relocate to Stockholm, where he was appointed professor and curator of the mineralogical department of the Swedish State Museum. He made many expeditions, most notably to Greenland and the arctic. In 1880, he was made a Swedish baron and commander of the Order of the Nordstjerna.
Biographical references: Acta Societatis Scientiarum Fennicae: 31 (1902), 1-29 [by W. Ramsay]. • Barr, Index to Biographical Fragments, 1973: 192. • Biographiskt Lexicon. • Borgström, L.H., "Om A.E. Nordenskiöld som mineralog och om hans kosmogenetiska teori", Terra, no. 3 (1932), 149-53. • Cleevely, World Palæontological Collections, 1983: 216. • DSB: 10, 148-9 [by G. Kish]. • Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th edition. • Finsk Biografisk Handbok: 2, cols. 1559-65. • Finsk Tidskrift.: 1901, no. 2, 173-83 [by W. Ramsay]. • Forsstrand, C., Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld och hans forskningafärder. En minnesteckning grundad på tryckta källskrfter och personliga bägkomster. Stockholm, Albert Bonniers Förlag, 1901. [1]-123 p., portrait, illus. • Geografiska Föreningens Tidskrift: 1902, 65-74 [by H. Blomqvist]. • Geographischer Anzeiger: 2 (1901), 129-31 [by A.G. Nathorst]. • Geological Magazine: 38 (1901), no. 9, 429-32 [by F.A. Bather]. • Geologiska Föreningens i Stockholm Förhandlingar: 34 (1912), 45-100, portrait [by H. Sjögren]. • Hedin, S., Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld. En levnadsbeskrivning. Stockholm, Albert Bonniers Förlag, 1926. [8], [1]-378 p., portrait, illus, maps. [Biography of Nordenskiöld.]. • ISIS, 1913-65: 2, 239. • Kish, G., "Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld (1832-1901): a Scandinavian pioneer of the earth sciences", Actes XIIIe Congress Internationale Hist. Science, 8, (1971), 53-8. • Laitakari, Geologische Bibliographie Finnlands, 1934: 121-3. • Lambrecht & Quenstedt, Catalogus, 1938: 316. • Mineralogical Magazine: 13 (1902), no. 60, 191-2 [obituary]. • Poggendorff: 2, cols. 298-9 & 1432, 3, 977-8 & 4, 1081-2. • Popular Science Monthly: 59 (1901), 596-8. • Proceedings of the Geological Society, London: 58 (1902), p. lii-liii. • Ramsay, H., Nordenskiöld: sjöfararen. Stockholm, Skoglund, 1950. [1]-315 p., illus., map. • Sarjeant, Geologists, 1980: 3, 1798-1800, Suppl. 1 (1986), 2, 661 & Suppl. 2 (1995), 2, 938-9 [other refs.]. • SBA: Scandinavian Biographical Archive: B-219, 271-339. • Schaedler, Biographisch Handwörterbuch, 1891: 85. • Svenskt Biografiskt Handlexikon: 2, 200, portrait. • Svenskt Biografiskt Lexikon: 27, 264-??. • WBI. • World Who's Who in Science: 1263. • Zentralblatt für Mineralogie: Jg. 1903, 161-75 & 193-210.
1. Swedish, 1855 [Dissertation].
Om | Grafitens och Chondroditens | kristallformer, | Akademisk afhandling | med den vidtberömda Fysisk-Mathematiska Fakultetens | vid Kejserliga Alexanders-Universitetet i Finland | tillstånd | under inseende af | Dr Adolf Edvard Arppe, | Professor i kemin, | för vinnande af | Licentiatgrad i Fysisk-Mathematiska fakulteten | till offentlig granskning framställd af | Nils Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld, | Fys.-Math. Kandidat, | i Hist.-Fil. Lärosalen den 28 Februari 1855. | p.v.t.f.m. | [ornate rule] | Helsingfors, J. C. Frenckell & Son, 1855.
8°: π2 [1]-54 ; 22l.; [2], [1]-42 p., one plate (crystal drawings).
Contents: [2 pgs], Title-page, verso blank.; [1]-42, Text.
Rare. Nordenskiöld's dissertation on the crystallography of graphite and chondrodite. \JKjellman
Bibliographical references: NUC.
2. Swedish, 1855 [First edition].
Beskrifning | öfver | De I Finland Funna Mineralier | af | A. Nordenskiöld. | Licentiat. | [tapered rule] | Helsingfors, | Finska Litteratur-sällskapets tryckeri, 1855.
8°: π5 1-108 112; 87l.; [i]-x, [1]-162, [2] p. Page size: 190 x 117 mm.
Contents: [i-ii], Title page, verso "Imprimatur: S. Baranowskij."; [iii]-vi, "Inledning."; [vii]-x, "Register."; [1]-156, Text.; [157]-162, "Bihang."; [1 pg], "Rättelser."; [1 pg], Blank.
Very scarce. In the introduction, Nordenskiöld writes that the advances in mineral chemistry published in Rammelsberg's Handwörterbuch des Chemischen Theils der Mineralogie (Berlin, 1841) has provided a solid foundation on which a true chemical classification of mineral species can be built. For crystallography, the work of Brooke and Miller was relied on. The "Register" provides an alphabetical list of mineral species described in the text. The text describes minerals found in Finland classified according to a chemical classification.
Bibliographical references: BMC: 3, 1442 [wanting]. • Dana's 7th (Bibliography): 78.
3. Swedish, 1863 [2nd edition].
Beskrifning | öfver | de i Finland funna Mineralier | af | A.E. Nordenskiöld. | [rule] | Andra, omarbetade upplagan. | [rule] | Helisingfors, | Finska Litteratur-sällskapets tryckeri, 1863. | [short rule] | P. Th. Stolpes förlag.
8°: [4], [1]-177, [1] blank, [i]-v, [1] blank p. Page size: 190 x 120 mm.
Contents: [2 pgs], Title page, verso "Imprimatur: L. Heimbürger."; [2 pgs], "Inledning."; [1]-171, Text.; [172], Blank.; [173]-177, "Bihang."; [i]-v, "Register."; [1 pg], Blank.
Very scarce. Updated edition of the author's Beskrifning öfver de i Finland funna Mineralier (Helsingfors, 1855). The 106 minerals are described with chemical formula, Miller indices, stöchiometry. They are arranged in a chemical system (Berzelius'??). A supplement at the end includes another 16 minerals in the same method. At the end is an index of mineral names.
Bibliographical references: Dana's 7th (Bibliography): 78.
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