Andrés Manuel del Río

Andrés Manuel del Río ( born November 10, 1764 in Madrid, † March 23, 1849 in Mexico City) was a Spanish mineralogist and chemist. In 1801 he discovered the element vanadium.

Life and work

Education and Chair

After a classical education del Río reached the age of 15 years at the University of Alcalá Henares in a bachelor's degree. Only two years later he studied in private lessons physics, then specialized but to the field of mineralogy. In June 1782, he received a scholarship from the Spanish crown and henceforth studied chemistry, geology, mineralogy, and engineering science in the field of mine construction at the Royal Academy of mine construction in Almaden. From 1783 del Río was sent to the Collège de France in Paris, where he continued his studies with Jean Pierre Joseph d' Arcet ( 1777-1844 ). In 1789 he went to Freiberg in Saxony, where he met under the wing of the Director Abraham Gottlob Werner ( 1719-1781 ) on Friedrich Heinrich Alexander von Humboldt ( 1769-1859 ), with whom he became friends. Both graduated in Freiberg; del Río went first to the Austria -Hungarian Schemnitz and England in 1791 returned to Paris. There he became assistant to 1793 by Lavoisier ( 1743-1794 ). After his arrest del Río fled to England and received in exile in 1794 the reputation of a professor of mineralogy at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México in Mexico City.

In 1820, del Río is listed as a deputy to the Spanish Cortes Generales. It was from his political conviction a liberal who for the independence of New Spain, Virreinato de Nueva España ( Viceroyalty of New Spain ) entry. He was in Madrid when Mexico gained its final independence in 1821. They asked him to stay in Spain; he preferred, however, to return to his new home to Mexico. There he married a Mexican citizen.

Andrés Manuel del Río succeeded a long and successful academic career. Politically, too, leaves his work and goals of liberal politics tracks. He was one of the founders of the Palacio de Minería and formed the basis of the current institution of Geology of the National Autonomous University of Mexico, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. He was, inter alia, a member of the Royal Academy of Sciences in Madrid, Real Academia de Ciencias de Madrid, the Wernerian Natural History Society of Edinburgh, the Academy of Sciences, Academy of Sciences of France. He was president of the Geological Society of Philadelphia and the New York Academy of Sciences.

With the exception of a four -year stay in the United States (1829-1833) del Río Mexico left no more until his death in 1849.

His extensive scientific work includes the discovery and description of the various minerals, as well as innovative methods for the extraction of ores in the mining industry and for Mexico.

Discovery of vanadium

Del Rio were sent for analysis in 1801 specimens from the mine Purisima del Cardenal in Zimapán in the state of Hidalgo. In the studies of lead ore, plomo pardo del Rio came to the conclusion that he had found a new metallic element. The Vanadinit ( Bleivanadat ), a compound of a new element whose chemistry any other known element resembled him.

In various implementations, he received compounds of various colors. Consequently, called Del Rio the new element in his first publications in 1802 first panchromium ( pancromo, all colors). He later changed this to Erythronium ( eritrono, red), due to the bright red alkali metal salts of the element.

The following year in 1803 reached his friend Friedrich Heinrich Alexander von Humboldt ( 1769-1859 ), Mexico City. This was skeptical about the allegedly newly discovered element concerned and suspected that del Río was only encountered already in 1797 found chromium. Humboldt took on his trip to Europe in 1804 samples of ores and let them investigate in Paris by Hyppolyte -Victor Collet- Descotils ( 1773-1815 ). Collet- Descotils analyzes indicated erroneously in that the sample containing only chromium. Alexander von Humboldt found himself confirmed in his ( misguided) opinion and refused del Ríos original claim of the discovery of a new element. It was merely lead ore with chromium impurities. By the way, took del Río even this position and concluded that in the analysis of the ore an error had occurred.

1830 succeeded the Swedish chemist Nils Gabriel Sefström ( 1787-1845 ), the rediscovery of the vanadium. Shortly afterwards proved Friedrich Wöhler (1800-1882), that it is identical elements in vanadium and Erythronium. Del Rio could forgive Humboldt never that he had not supported his discovery, thereby delaying the discovery of new metal by 40 years.

Works

• Elementos de Orictognesia o del conocimiento de los fósiles, prepared for use in the Real Seminario de Mineria de México. 1795.
• Analysis of the deux nouvelles espèces minérales composées de séléniure de zinc de mercure et de sulfure. In: Annales des Mines, 5, Paris, 1829.
• Découverte de l' iodure de mercure au Mexique. In: Annales des Mines, 5, Paris, 1829.
• Elementos de Orictognesia, o del conocimiento de los el sistema de fósiles según Bercelio; según y los principios de Abraham Gottlob Werner, con la sinonimia inglesa, alemana y francesa, para uso del Seminario Nacional de Minería de México. Philadelphia 1832.