Name Johann von | Role Chemist | |
Died March 5, 1856, Munich, Germany | ||
Johann Nepomuk von Fuchs (15 May 1774 – 5 March 1856) was a German chemist and mineralogist.
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Biography
He was born at Mattenzell, near Falkenstein in the Bavarian Forest. In 1807 he became professor of chemistry and mineralogy at the university of Landshut, and in 1823 conservator of the mineralogical collections at Munich, where he was appointed professor of mineralogy three years later, on the removal thither of the university of Landshut. He retired in 1852, was ennobled by the king of Bavaria in 1854, and died at Munich on 5 March 1856.
He is largely known for his mineralogical observations and for his work on soluble glass, an alkaline silicate utilized in stereochromy, a special kind of fresco painting. Historically, the substance was sometimes referred to as "Fuchs's soluble glass". Also, he developed a scientific method for the production of cement and made contributions in his research involving the amorphic state of solid bodies.
He coined the mineral names wagnerite (1821) and margarite (1823), and with Adolph Ferdinand Gehlen, was co-describer of the mineral mesolite (1816). A variety of muscovite called fuchsite commemorates his name.