Victor+Goldschmidt


The Moles  Presents...     W HO ? Victor Goldschmidt Group Personnel: Frederick Lee, Jeffrey Wang, Jesse Ong, Andrew Wong

Personal History:

 * Date of Birth: January 27, 1888.
 * Place of Birth: Zurich, Switzerland.
 * Date of death: March 20, 1947.

Victor Moritz Goldschmidt is the son of H.J Goldschmidt; whom was also a chemist. He studied at Christiania University (now [|Oslo University]). Soon after he obtained a PhD in 1911. After, Goldschmidt stayed in Norway and was the director of Mineralogical Institute until 1929. Later, Goldschmidt moved to the University of Göttingen in Germany. When the anti-Semitism and the Nazi party rose in 1935, Victor Goldschmidt returned to Norway. Later, Victor was sent to a concentration camp. Then in 1942 Glodschmidt then fled to Sweden and went on to England. In England, Victor spent his time at the [|Macaulay Institute for Soil Research]near Arberdeen, then later, at [|Rothamsted Experimental Station] in Harpenden. After the World War Goldschmidt returned to Oslo University. Victor Goldschmidt remained at Oslo until he died at the age of 59. Victor, though he had many friends that consisted of colleagues and students, was single and never married.

Students on campus at Oslo University, where Victor continued his studies.

<span style="color: rgb(13, 160, 16)">Interesting Facts:

 * Without taking any regular exams or degrees, he got a post-doctoral fellowship for the university at the age of 21 (1909).
 * Obtained his Norwegian doctor degree at the age of 23 (1911). This degree usually takes someone 30 to 40 years to obtain.
 * In 1912, Victor Goldschmidt was awarded the most distinguished Norwegian scientific award for his work on the //Die Kontaktmetamorphose im Kristianiagebiet.//
 * In 1917, Goldschmidt was appointed the Chair of the Government Commission for Raw Materials, and head of the Raw Materials Laboratory to investigate the country's minerals as it needed alternatives to chemicals that were imported before World War I because it was short in supply.
 * Was awarded the Wollaston Medal in 1944 by the Geological Society of London.
 * For many years, was the Norwegian Committee for Raw Material ( Statens Råstoffkomité ).
 * There is an award named after Victor Goldschmidt. This award is called the [|Victor Moritz Goldschmidt Award], and this award is rewarded to scientists that made major achievements in [|geochemistry] or [|cosmochemistry].
 * Developed the [|Goldschmidt Classifacation], a geochemical classification that groups chemical elements into the elements preferred host phases, lithophile, siderophile, chalcophile, and atmophile.
 * Victor Mordechai Goldschmidt; also another chemist (Who may be confused with Victor Moritz Goldschmidt) made a catalogue of all crystal forms of all minerals.
 * Is fond of calling 'The Queen of Sciences.' or 'Father of Modern Geochemistry.'
 * Carried a cyanide suicide pill during the war in the event of Germany invading Britain, however, he replied "Cynide is for chemists, you, being a professor of mechanical enginneering, will have to use the rope" when a collegue asked Goldschmidt for one of the pills.
 * He was a member of many societies such as: Royal Society, Geological Society of London, British Mineralogical Society, Geological Society of Edinburgh, and the Chemical Society of London.
 * Wrote a treatise called Geochemistry, and had written over 200 papers

<span style="color: rgb(14, 21, 149)">Major Experiments, Contributions, or Discoveries:
Victor Goldschmidt's first major contribution was in the geology, and mineralogy field. One of his first large works was his doctor thesis //Die Kontaktmetamorphase im Kristianiagebiet//, and is usually referred to as the start of geochemistry (the distribution of the chemical elements in nature). Not only did geochemistry inspired the field of mineralogy and geology, but also theoretical chemistry and crystallography. Victor Goldschmidt is the acknowledged founder of modern geochemistry. By using the works of Max von Laue and W. H. and W. L. Bragg as the foundation for his own work, Goldschmidt worked out the crystal structures of over two hundred compounds. By the mid-1920s, the atomic radii of different elements during different ionizing stages had been established. With this new information and his detailed knowledge of crystal structures, Victor predicted what sort of rock and minerals various elements could be found in. His results are published in his eight volumes of Geochemische Verteilungsgesetze der Elemente(The Geochemical Laws of the Distribution of the Elements) in 1923 to 1938.

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; color: rgb(171, 20, 13)">Try It Yourself:

 * <span style="color: rgb(81, 120, 144)">Try to unscramble this picture! **

//Q: Name this chemical that Goldschmidt used for his various experiments.//

//A: Calcite ; CaCO//3



References:
Answers Website. 17 September 2008< http://www.answers.com/topic/victor-goldschmidt >

HighBeam™ Research, Inc. ©. 20 September 2008< http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O84-GoldschmidtVictorMoritz.html >

Geochemical Society. 29 June 2007. Geochemical Society. 19 Semptember < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victor_Moritz_Goldschmidt >

Wikipedia. 18 September 2008. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 27 September 2008< http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victor_Moritz_Goldschmidt >

Claus Hedegaard. "Calcite". <http://www.hedegaard.com/Minerals/Species/Calcite.html>. 2 October 2008.