Émile Bertrand

Émile Bertrand ( * 1844, † 1909) was a French mineralogist and mining engineer.

Bertrand came from a wealthy family and studied after a few years of traveling in 1869 at the École des Mines de Paris. After that, he lived as a mineral dealers and collectors in Paris ( he had a Comptoir mineralogique ).

He has published articles and books on mineralogy and developed one of the earliest in 1870, specifically tailored for petrography microscopes. In addition, he has published, among others, on the application of the microscope in mineralogy (1878 ) and the refractometer (1885 ) and translated the history of mechanics of Ernst Mach into French ( 1904).

He was a founder of French mineralogical society.

Honors

Bertrand was an honorary member of the Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and Ireland.

1883 named Augustin Alexis Damour one described by him in honor of mineral Bertrand as Bertrandit.

Along with Giovanni Battista Amici is Bertrand namesake of the " Bertrand- Amici lenses " (or " Bertrand lens " ) that are used in microscopy as a switched on and off auxiliary lenses with polarizing microscopes.