Abstracts
Abstract
George Christian Hoffmann, of German extraction, was born in London. After studying at the Royal School of Mines and working in London as a chemical analyst, he set out on a career that took him to Natal, in south-east Africa, to Melbourne in the Australian colony of Victoria, and to Canada where he had a long career with the Geological Survey, becoming Deputy Director in 1880 and retiring in 1907. In his work with the Geological Survey, he determined the chemical composition and identity of mineral samples collected by and submitted to the Survey, assessing their economic potential.
Keywords:
- Chemistry,
- Analysis,
- Phytochemistry,
- Minerals,
- Geological Survey of Canada
Résumé
George Christian Hoffmann, d’origine allemande, est né à Londres. Il a étudié à la Royal School of Mines et a travaillé à Londres comme analyste chimique avant de se lancer dans une carrière qui l’a mené au Natal, dans le sud-est de l’Afrique, à Melbourne, dans la colonie australienne de Victoria, puis au Canada, où il a eu une longue carrière au sein de la Commission géologique du Canada (CGC); il en est devenu le directeur adjoint en 1880, et a pris sa retraite en 1907. À la Commission géologique, il déterminait la composition chimique d’échantillons minéraux recueillis ou reçus par la CGC et définissait ainsi leur identité, et en évaluait le potentiel économique.
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Appendices
Biographical notes
Ian Rae recognizes the assistance of Professor Victor Snieckus of Queens University, a good friend, colleague ,and a champion of chemistry in Canada and Australia, who passed away in December 2020. Ian Rae is an Honorary Professorial Fellow in the School of Chemistry, University of Melbourne, Australia. He writes about the history of chemistry, concentrating on the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, developing Australian and international themes. His most recent publications are the chapters ‘May Sybil Leslie and the Disintegration of her Element – Thorium’ and ‘Four Women Chemists Review the Elements’ in Women in Their Element, eds. Annette Lykknes and Brigitte Van Tiggelen (2019). With Dr Sara Maroske, he is Editor of the Australian Academy of Science journal, Historical Records of Australian Science. http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7579-3717
Sara Maroske is an editor of Historical Records of Australian Science and the Ferdinand von Mueller Correspondence Project. Her research interests include the history of natural history and the history of women’s access to knowledge. Among her most recent publications are ‘Naming names: The First Women Taxonomists in Mycology,’ Studies in Mycology (2018) and ‘Hugh Bryan Womersley 1922-2011,’ Historical Records of Australian Science (2019).