Wilhelm Heinrich Waagen

German geologist and paleontologist

Wilhelm Heinrich Waagen

Born| (1841-06-23)23 June 1841

Munich

Died| 24 March 1900(1900-03-24) (aged 58)

Vienna

Occupation(s)| Geologist, palaeontologist

Wilhelm Heinrich Waagen (23 June 1841 - 24 March 1900) was a German geologist and paleontologist. He was born in Munich and died in Vienna.[1] He worked from 1870 to 1875 in the Geological Survey of India. He was a professor of paleontology at the University of Vienna from 1890.

## Life and work[edit]

Geological Survey of India in 1870; Waagen is the second standing figure from the right.

Waagen was born in Munich and studied locally before going to the University of Zurich where he studied natural sciences. His first work was on the Jurassic of France, Schwabia and Switzerland published in 1864.[2] He received a Doctor of Philosophy degree at the University of Munich, where he studied the rocks and fossils of the Jurassic system, and published an elaborate work on geology (Versuch einer Allgemeinen Classification der Schichten des oberen Jura)[3] that was crowned by the university. In 1866, he became an instructor in paleontology at the University of Munich and at the same time taught Princess Theresa and Prince Arnulf of Bavaria. In 1886 he declined a position at the school of mines at Berlin. In 1870 he joined the Geological Survey of India and was appointed as a paleontologist in 1874 but the weather forced him to retire in 1875.[3] He married Sophie, Baroness von Gross-schedel and moved to Vienna where he served as a tutor as there was little chance of a professorship position at the University of Munich as he was a Catholic. In 1877 he became an instructor at the University of Vienna where he lectured on the geology of India. In 1879 Waagen went to the German Polytechnic of Prague as professor of geology and mineralogy, and in 1890, following the death of Melchior Neumayr, he became professor of palaeontology at the University of Vienna. He held this position until his death.[1] He edited the Silurian System of Bohemia begun by Joachim Barrande along with Dr J. Jahn in 1899, contributing to the section on Crinoids. Waagen's main work in India was on the Jurassic cephalopods of Kutch and on the Salt Range Fossils, both forming parts of the “Paleontologica Indica” and the latter was incomplete at the time of his death.[4]

Waagen was named councillor of the board of mines (Oberbergart), and in 1893 was made a corresponding member of the Academy of Sciences. In 1898, the Geological Society of London awarded him the Lyell medal.[3]

Waagen's writings before his trip to India treat especially the German Jura and its fossils. He was a pioneer in the geological investigation of India (the Salt Range) by the scientific presentation of rich palaeontological material.[1] He established a refined lithostratigraphy of the Early Triassic series (Mianwali Formation) that still holds today. This allows to replace most of the ammonoids he described in their original stratigraphic position, an accomplishment rarely achieved by paleontologists in the late 19th century. He first realized how important the Early Triassic ammonoid succession of the Salt Range was for the construction of the Triassic time scale.

In 1869, after an exhaustive study of ammonites, Waagen advocated the theory of (transformation) evolution or mutation for certain series of fossils. As a young man he had taken an active part in the Catholic life of Munich, and two years before his death he wrote a treatise on the first chapter of Genesis that showed both the geologist and the Christian.[5] His son Lukas Waagen also became a geologist.

## Legacy[edit]

The fish Puntius waageni is named for Waagen, as it was described on the basis of a specimen that he collected.[6]

## Editorial works[edit]

Waagen was one of the editors of the periodical "Geognostische-paläontologische Beiträge" (Munich), and during the years 1894-1900 editor of the "Beiträge zur Paläontologie Oesterreich-Ungarns und des Orients" (Vienna); after the death of Joachim Barrande (1883) he edited several volumes of Barrande's work "Système silurien". Waagen's most important works were:

* "Der Jura in Franken, Schwaben und der Schweiz" (Munich, 1864).
* "Klassification der Schichten des obern Jura" (Munich, 1865).
* "Über die Zone des Ammonites Sowerbyi" (Munich, 1867)
* "Die Formenreihe des Ammonites subradiatus" (Munich, 1869).
* "Ueber die geologische Verteilung der Organismen in Indien" (Vienna, 1878).
* "Das Schopfungsproblem" in "Natur und Offenbarung" (Munster, 1898; as a separate publication, 1899).
* "Gliederun der pelagischen Sedimente des Triassystems" (Vienna, 1895).

He wrote in English: "Jurassic Fauna of Kutch" (1873-6); "Productus Limestone" (1879–91); "Fossils from the Ceratite Formation" (1892).

## References[edit]

1. ^ a b c Chisholm 1911.
2. ^ Waagen, W. (1864). Der Jura in Franken, Schwaben und der Schweiz.
3. ^ a b c One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Waagen, Wilhelm Heinrich". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 28 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 224.
4. ^ "Wilhelm Heinrich Waagen". Geological Magazine. 7 (9): 432–432. 1900. doi:10.1017/S0016756800174679. ISSN 0016-7568.
5. ^ Kneller, Karl Alois (1911). Christianity and the leaders of modern science. London: B. Herder. pp. 293–295.
6. ^ Christopher Scharpf & Kenneth J. Lazara (22 September 2018). "Order CYPRINIFORMES: Family CYPRINIDAE: Subfamily SMILIOGASTRINAE". The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database. Christopher Scharpf and Kenneth J. Lazara. Retrieved 19 November 2021.

* This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. `{{cite encyclopedia}}`: Missing or empty `|title=` (help)

## External links[edit]

* Works by or about Wilhelm Heinrich Waagen at Internet Archive

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