Anton Schrötter von Kristelli
Encyclopedia
Chemist
A chemist is a scientist trained in the study of chemistry. Chemists study the composition of matter and its properties such as density and acidity. Chemists carefully describe the properties they study in terms of quantities, with detail on the level of molecules and their component atoms...
and mineralogist born in Olomouc
Olomouc
Olomouc is a city in Moravia, in the east of the Czech Republic. The city is located on the Morava river and is the ecclesiastical metropolis and historical capital city of Moravia. Nowadays, it is an administrative centre of the Olomouc Region and sixth largest city in the Czech Republic...
, Moravia
Moravia
Moravia is a historical region in Central Europe in the east of the Czech Republic, and one of the former Czech lands, together with Bohemia and Silesia. It takes its name from the Morava River which rises in the northwest of the region...
. His son Leopold Schrötter Ritter von Kristelli (1837–1908) was a noted laryngologist
Laryngology
Laryngology is that branch of medicine which deals with disorders, diseases and injuries of the vocal apparatus, especially the larynx. Common conditions addressed by laryngologists include vocal fold nodules and cysts, laryngeal cancer, spasmodic dysphonia, laryngopharyngeal reflux, papillomas,...
.
Antons father was an apothecary. He initially studied medicine in Vienna at the request of his father, but switched to the natural sciences under the influence of Friedrich Mohs
Friedrich Mohs
Carl Friedrich Christian Mohs was a German geologist/mineralogist.- Career :Mohs, born in Gernrode, Germany, studied chemistry, mathematics and physics at the University of Halle and also studied at the Mining Academy in Freiberg, Saxony...
. In 1827 he became an assistant in the fields of physics
Physics
Physics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...
and mathematics
Mathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
at the University of Vienna
University of Vienna
The University of Vienna is a public university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world...
. In 1830 he was appointed professor of physics and chemistry at the Joanneum Technical Institute in Graz
Graz
The more recent population figures do not give the whole picture as only people with principal residence status are counted and people with secondary residence status are not. Most of the people with secondary residence status in Graz are students...
, and from 1843 served as a professor of technical chemistry at the Polytechnic Institute of the University of Vienna. In 1845 he attained the chair of general chemistry in Vienna. In 1868 he was appointed Master of the Mint
Master of the Mint
Master of the Mint was an important office in the governments of Scotland and England, and later Great Britain, between the 16th and 19th centuries. The Master was the highest officer in the Royal Mint. Until 1699, appointment was usually for life. Its holder occasionally sat in the cabinet...
. Declining health made him retire in 1874.
As a chemist he conducted research involving reactions of metals with ammonia
Ammonia
Ammonia is a compound of nitrogen and hydrogen with the formula . It is a colourless gas with a characteristic pungent odour. Ammonia contributes significantly to the nutritional needs of terrestrial organisms by serving as a precursor to food and fertilizers. Ammonia, either directly or...
at higher temperatures, and performed investigations of substances such as amber
Amber
Amber is fossilized tree resin , which has been appreciated for its color and natural beauty since Neolithic times. Amber is used as an ingredient in perfumes, as a healing agent in folk medicine, and as jewelry. There are five classes of amber, defined on the basis of their chemical constituents...
, idrialite
Idrialite
Idrialite, or idrialine, is a soft, orthorhombic hydrocarbon mineral, chemical formula: C22H14. It is usually greenish yellow to light brown in colour with bluish fluorescence....
, ozokerite
Ozokerite
Ozokerite or ozocerite is a naturally occurring odoriferous mineral wax or paraffin found in many localities.-Sources:...
, asphalt
Asphalt
Asphalt or , also known as bitumen, is a sticky, black and highly viscous liquid or semi-solid that is present in most crude petroleums and in some natural deposits, it is a substance classed as a pitch...
and dopplerite
Dopplerite
Dopplerite is a naturally occurring organic substance found in amorphous, elastic or jelly-like masses, of brownish-black color, in peat beds in Styria and in Switzerland. It is tasteless, insoluble in alcohol and ether, and is described by James Dwight Dana as an acid substance, or mixture of...
. In 1845 he discovered a process for preparing red phosphorus, a development which led to the invention of the safety match.
He was a scientific consultant to the Novara Expedition
SMS Novara
Two ships of the Austro-Hungarian Navy have been named SMS Novara after the Battle of Novara :*SMS Novara , a sail frigate most noted for its 1857 - 1859 around-the-world scientific expedition, and also for carrying Archduke Maximillian to the Americas where he was proclaimed Maximilian I of...
(1857–59), as well as the Austrian-Hungarian North Pole Expedition. His name is associated with the Schrötterhorn of the Ortler
Ortler
Ortler is, at above sea level, the highest mountain in the Eastern Alps outside the Bernina Range. It is the main peak of the Ortler Range. It is the highest point of the Southern Limestone Alps, of the Italian province of South Tyrol, of Tyrol overall, and, until 1919, of the Austrian-Hungarian...
gruppe in the Alps and Cape Schrötter on Franz Josef Land
Franz Josef Land
Franz Josef Land, Franz Joseph Land, or Francis Joseph's Land is an archipelago located in the far north of Russia. It is found in the Arctic Ocean north of Novaya Zemlya and east of Svalbard, and is administered by Arkhangelsk Oblast. Franz Josef Land consists of 191 ice-covered islands with a...
. He was a founding member of the Austrian Academy of Sciences
Austrian Academy of Sciences
The Austrian Academy of Sciences is a legal entity under the special protection of the Federal Republic of Austria. According to the statutes of the Academy its mission is to promote the sciences and humanities in every respect and in every field, particularly in fundamental research...
, and in 1850 became its general secretary.
Selected writings
- Die Chemie nach ihrem gegenwärtigen Zustand (1847–1849); two volumes
- Beschreibung eines Verfahrens zur fabrikmäßigen Darstellung des amorphen Phosphors (Description of a Method for Factory Representation of Amorphous Phosphorus), (1848)
- Ueber einen neuen allotropischen Zustand des Phosphors (About a New Allotropic State of Phosphorus), (1849)
- Ueber das Vorkommen des Ozons im Mineralreich (About the Presence of Ozone in the Mineral Kingdom), (1860)