Johann Gottlob Lehmann (scientist)


Johann Gottlob Lehmann was a German mineralogist and geologist noted for his work and research contributions to the geologic record leading to the development of stratigraphy.

Life and career

Lehmann was born in Langenhennersdorf, Electorate of Saxony and attended the University of Wittenberg, from which he received an M.D. in 1741, and then established a practice in Dresden.
Living in Saxony, he developed an interest in the local mining industry, and published on the chemical composition of ore deposits. In 1750 the Royal Prussian Academy of Sciences commissioned him to study mining practices throughout Prussia.
In 1761 the Russian Imperial Academy of Sciences invited him to Saint Petersburg, where he became professor of chemistry and director of the imperial museum there.
At the Beryozovskoye deposit in the Urals he discovered a lead ore with a reddish-orange mineral, which he named "Rotbleierz" ; today in English its name is crocoite.
Lehmann, Georg Christian Füchsel, and Giovanni Arduino were founders of stratigraphy.
Lehmann died in Saint Petersburg from injuries caused by the explosion of a retort filled with arsenic.

Selected works