Melchior Neumayr

Melchior Neumayr ( born October 24, 1845 in Munich, † January 29, 1890 in Vienna ) was an Austrian paleontologist and in this area in the 19th century of leading importance.

In Vienna, he served as a professor Paleontological Institute, is considered the first of its kind worldwide. Melchior Neumayr worked in the area of the Jurassic and Cretaceous ammonites and freshwater molluscs from the Tertiary and was an early supporter of Darwin's theory of evolution.

Youth, Education

Melchior Neumayr was born in 1845 as son of the Bavarian State Minister Max von Neumayr in Munich. According to the family tradition Melchior Neumayr takes 1863 at the University of Munich to study law, but soon followed his inclinations towards the natural sciences. There he was a student at Albert Oppel and Carl Wilhelm von Gumbel.

After a period of study in Heidelberg at Ernst Wilhelm Benecke and Robert Wilhelm Bunsen, he received his doctorate in 1867, Dr. phil. in Munich.

Life

From 1868 to 1872 Neumayr was as a section geologist at the Imperial and Royal Imperial Geological Institute ( GRA ) active in Vienna. Here he published in the Yearbook of the GRA, a description of the Jurassic formation on the basis of fossil features, including a list of contemporary publications on this. His Habilitation at the University of Heidelberg was 1872.

On the ministerial decision of 20 November 1873, the University of Vienna taught a chair paleontology with management and collections one for this new branch of science. This area is probably the first and oldest Paleontological Institute. It was with a private lecture hall and several rooms ( old university Konviktsgebäude, Baker Street 20) equipped.

Melchior Neumayr was appointed in the same year as an associate professor of paleontology at the institute. In this capacity he developed from his own collection of fossil pieces of evidence a large Palaeontological Collection, under the name of Paleontology University Museum ( Name existent until 1903 ) met with acclaim.

Melchior Neumayr participated in the k by k Ministry of Education by decree of June 2, 1875 decreed program, which provided a geological survey in the "Orient" by numerous forces of the Austrian universities for several years and his leadership was entrusted. To his companion were Friedrich plate (1852-1913) and Leo Burger stone available. Other geologists were involved in this work. The explorations and photographic work led him to Greece, numerous islands of the Aegean Sea and in today's Turkey.

In 1879 he was appointed professor of paleontology. In the same year married the daughter of his friend, colleague Eduard Suess takes place.

The evaluation of scientific travel in Greece and the Aegean Sea is largely complete with a comprehensive publication he edited in 1880. His work was finally so honored that he was appointed in 1882 a corresponding member of the Academy of Sciences.

At a lung disease Melchior Neumayr died in January 1890 in Vienna.

Services

Many of his research have been influenced by the ideas of Darwin's theory of evolution. Especially in his work The tribes of the animal kingdom ( Volume 1, invertebrates), these aspects have been discussed in detail. Charles Darwin in a letter (March 9, 1877) at Neumayr: " Allow them that I express to them my thanks for the pleasure and instruction which has given me her book. It seems to me to be an admirable work; and it treats the far the best case, showing the direct influence of living conditions on the construction of an organism. "

His scientific travels took him to Italy, in the Alps and Carpathians, to Dalmatia, on the Balkan Peninsula and in the Aegean Sea and Asia Minor. He studied mainly fossil structures in sedimentary rocks. Some of these works abroad were associated with systematic geological recordings ( mapping work in the terrain). These activities, together with the authors Alexander Bittner and Friedrich plate was the Geological map of mainland Greece and the island of Euboea in the scale 1:400,000 and the Geological Map of the island of Kos at a scale of about 1:120.000, both in 1880 as a color print published.

Together with Edmund of Mojsisovics 1880 he founded the journal Contributions to paleontology Austria - Hungary and the Orient.

Works and Writings (selection )

• Contributions to the knowledge of fossil Binnenfaunen. in: Yearbook of k.k. Imperial Geological Institute, Vol 19, Vienna 1869, pp. 355-382 ( digitized, PDF, 2.1 MB)
• Jura studies. Second Series. in: Yearbook of k.k. Imperial Geological Institute, Vol 21, Vienna 1871, pp. 297-378 ( digitized, PDF, 7.1 MB)
• Carl Maria Paul: The Congerien and Paludinenschichten Slavonia and their faunas. In: Proceedings of the K. K. geological Reichsanstalt. . Vol. 7, Issue 3, Wien 1875 doi: 10.5962/bhl.title.14331
• The Ornatenthone of Tschulkowo and the position of the Russian law. Munich 1876
• With Franz von Hauer. Excursions Guide to the Geological Society by the general meeting in Vienna 1877 Vienna (kk Geological Reichsanstalt ) 1877
• Geological studies on the northern and eastern part of the Chalkidiki peninsula. Vienna ( k.k. Court and State Printing Office ) 1880
• The geological structure of the western Central Greece. Vienna (Karl Gerold 's Sohn ) 1880
• Geological studies in the coastal countries of the Greek archipelago. Vienna (Karl Gerold 's Sohn ) 1880
• With Edmund Mojsisovics, Edler von Mojsvar: Contributions to Paleontology Austria -Hungary and the neighboring areas. Vienna (Alfred Hölder ) 1880-1882
• The history of the eastern Mediterranean basin: Lecture, held in science club in Vienna on January 30, 1882 Habel, Berlin 1882 ( digitized ).
• General Geology. Leipzig ( Bibliographical Institute ) 1886.
• Viktor Uhlig: Earth's history. Leipzig ( published by the Bibliographical Institute ) 1886-87
• Earth's history. Leipzig ( Bibliographical Institute ) 1887-1895
• With Edmund Naumann: Geology and Paleontology of Japan. Vienna ( k.k. Court and State Printing Office ) 1890