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In This Issuein This Issue COLORADO SCHOOL OF MINES Inside Arthur Lakes LIBRARY 14 8 7 6 e u s Find it on the Web Site! 2 Library Directory 3 s i Our Crown Jewels 4 Collections Conservation 6 s Access 24/7 7 i You Spoke, We Listened : Survey Results 8 h Award Winning Student Assistants 9 Russell L. Wood Circulation Desk 10 t Lost & Found Alumni 12 Treasures of the Map Room 14 n i Donations 2003 15 Volume 1, Issue 1 Winter 2004 CONTACT INFO CONTACT www.mines.edu/library directory Find it on the Web Site! www.mines.edu/library ON THE WEB We’ve recently redesigned the Library web site to include our 1400 Illinois Street new logo, plus make use of the latest in web authoring standards. Golden, Colorado 80401 Designed by Innovative IO located in Superior, Colorado, the page Phone: (303) 273-3911 size is smaller so pages load faster. The site is more accessible to the Fax: (303) 273-3199 visually impaired, and may be updated across all of our hundreds of www.mines.edu/library pages with a minimum amount of fuss, allowing us to easily keep things up to date. As the Library grows and changes the web site For hours call or visit our web site will easily be able to grow and change with it. The Library’s logo appears Assistance on nearly every page in the Circulation: (303) 273-3698 web site. It serves to inform Reference Desk: (303) 273-3694 you when the page displayed Government Publications: (303) 273-3695 is maintained by the Library. Map Room: (303) 273-3697 By clicking on the portion of the image labeled “Colorado Circulation School of Mines” you can get Public Services Librarian Computer Services Patricia Andersen (303) 273-3652 to the CSM home page from anywhere on our site. You can also at Computer Services Librarian Library Technician Laura Guy (303) 384-2355 any time click on “Arthur Lakes Library” or the small “house” icon Roz Parker Yocom (303) 273-3022 Information Delivery Services to return to the Library’s home page. Library Technician Library Technician Timothy Ramstetter (303) 273-3698 The web site organizes the Library’s resources and services into Betty Sears (303) 273-3699 Library Technician six distinct sections: Library Catalog, Databases and Electronic Library Technician Wendy Shortridge (303) 273-3698 Lending (303) 273-3899 Publications, Reference and Instruction, About Us, User Services, Collection Management and Computing. Map Room/Government Publications Collection Development Librarian & Map Librarian Archivist Christopher J.J. Thiry (303) 273-3697 The Library’s web site is an essential tool for accessing most Library Robert Sorgenfrei (303) 384-2075 resources. The Library will continue to redesign its web interface Government Publications Librarian Monograph Catalog Librarian Lisa Nickum (303) 273-3695 to facilitate ease of use and be responsive to requests for improved Pam Blome (303) 273-3691 Library Technician access. Your feedback on ways to make our site more user-friendly is Collections Conservator Cheryl Livingston (303) 384-2354 Margaret Katz (303) 273-3693 always welcome. Send your suggestions to [email protected]. Library Technician Reference Stephen Katz (303) 273-3024 Head of Reference what you’ll fi nd most helpful : Lisa Dunn (303) 273-3687 Library Technician Craig Robbins (303) 273-3692 Reference Librarian • Renew your books online Heather Whitehead (303) 273-3681 • Search electronic databases We’ve Got Mail! Administration Our email addresses can be found at Director of the Library Joanne Lerud-Heck (303) 273-3690 www.mines.edu/library/staff.html • Access full-text articles Program Assistant or from the home page under Cathy Van Tassel (303) 273-3690 • Use the “Ask a Librarian” form “about us” > “directory”. Asst. for Collaborative Info. Development Mary Dale (303) 273-3446 2 Inside Arthur Lakes Library - CSM CSM - Inside Arthur Lakes Library 3 crown jewels FROM THE ARCHIVE Great Books in the Arthur Lakes Library By Robert Sorgenfrei day. In 1539, Agricola began to write De Re Metallica, and completed it in 1550. However, he insisted on having the finest quality woodcuts done to Every college or university library has its own distinct collections and focus. For more than half its existence the Arthur Lakes Library has primarily served students illustrate his text. Because of the time involved with producing the woodcuts, studying mining and metallurgy. Therefore, it is not surprising that the strongest the book was not published until 1556, a year after Agricola’s death. collections are in earth science subjects, and the books that stand out as our De Re Metallica is sometimes thought of as being the first book printed on crown jewels are for the most part from these areas. What are these bibliographic treasures and what makes them significant? De Re Metallica is one of the books mining. Strictly speaking, this is not correct. However, it was the first book ever printed that made a systematic study of mining methods and techniques. FROM THE ARCHIVE that determines this Library’s character. This and other gems of the collection can be viewed and read in the Russell L. & Lyn Wood Mining History Archive. An earlier work of Agricola, Bermannus, published in 1530 was actually his first book on mining. It was a preliminary study for De Re Metallica. In it, Agricola, (Bauer, Georg, 1494-1555). one Bermannus, a mining employee Georgi Agricolae De Re Metallica: has a dialogue with two physicians Libri XII. Basil: Hieron. Frobenivm et Nicolavm Espiscoivm, 1556. about the properties and relationships of minerals. The work is more a Without question the crown jewel philosophical inquiry than a practical of the rare books in the Russell L. & treatise on mining. Lyn Wood Mining History Archive is the first edition of Agricola’s book, Of all the books Agricola wrote, De De Re Metallica. Published in Basel, Re Metallica is the work that has Switzerland in 1556, this is the first stood the test of time. In great detail book printed on the techniques and and with carefully done illustrations, practice of mining. It is the seminal Agricola described the mining work in the field and a monument to one of the great intellects of the methods of his day: the problems renaissance. De Re Metallica is also one of the landmarks in the beginning of encountered in mine surveying, modern science and is a masterpiece of scientific illustration. of shaft sinking, of tunnels, drifts, stopes and timbering, ventilation, and Agricola was born Georg Bauer in 1494. A true Renaissance man, Bauer pumping. De Re Metallica is made up became fluent in Greek and Latin and lectured in those languages on subjects of twelve separate books as Agricola such as economics, political theory and natural science. Like many of the called them. Each book could stand scholars of the day, he latinized his name: Bauer (farmer in German) to alone as treatise on a given subject. Agricola, the Latin word for farmer. Agricola attended the University of The scope of the books is remarkable Leipzig and earned a degree in medicine. in that some of the subjects discussed In 1526 Agricola was appointed city physician to the town of St. Joachimistal are as relevant to mining today as they were four hundred years ago, (now Jachymov) in what is now the Czech Republic. This was a thriving especially the sections on mining investment, the impact mining has on mining town located in one the most productive mining regions in Europe. the environment and reclamation. De Re Metallica remained the definitive As a physician, he came into contact with the important mining people of the work on the mining until almost the middle of the eighteenth century, it town, and became interested in all aspects of mining. He visited the mines indeed remains a valid reference work on the pick and shovel type of mining and became an astute observer and researcher of the mining practices of his practiced before the advent of machinery, power tools, and explosives. 4 Inside Arthur Lakes Library - CSM CSM - Inside Arthur Lakes Library 5 map preservation information age Collections Conservation Access Twenty-Four/Seven Library materials are damaged through the normal wear and tear of use; You’ve got a cell phone. You’ve got a computer. You’ve got an ISP. You think over the years maps will tear along fold lines and paper becomes old and you’re wired and ready. But think again. GET CONNECTED brittle. Arthur Lakes Library is fortunate to have its own in house Collections One of the biggest myths around is that everything is on the Internet and that Conservator, Margaret Katz. Ms. Katz and her student assistants take care it’s free. The fact is that you’ll fi nd little information dated prior to 1975 on the web, and very few serious research materials may be obtained for free. of the repair and maintenance of our collection of books, serials, and maps. The Arthur Lakes Library has an extensive collection of online journals and databases to meet the needs of students and faculty researchers. Many “Map of land proposed…for materials are available on the Internet, but at a very steep price. The Library preserving the scenery of the Falls offers access to some of the fi nest of these resources. We provide our online of Niagara” (Aug.-Sept. 1883) collections free of charge to students, staff and faculty in the same way we bound into May 15, 1885 issue of provide books, maps and other resources – only you can log on 24/7. the journal “Science”. The overall condition is extremely brittle, weak Using the Library’s online collections has never been faster, easier or more MAP PRESERVATION MAP PRESERVATION and torn.
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  • De Re Metallica, 1556. Part 2
    J R Coll Physicians Edinb 2015; 45: 248–50 Ex libris http://dx.doi.org/10.4997/JRCPE.2015.315 © 2015 Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh Agricola’s De re metallica, 1556. Part 2 In Part 11 I mentioned the Hoover vocabulary, which Agricola himself translation of De re metallica. Since this is discusses in his introduction, he did the only English translation, it is likely to what all renaissance authors did, he be the lens through which most modern used general vocabulary to give readers will view Agricola’s work and so descriptions of particular things or merits some further discussion. processes. But he went much further; he added several hundred excellent It is a good translation in that it presents woodcuts, placed in the text beside the the meaning of Agricola’s text clearly verbal account, which make his and accurately and the extensive descriptions of physical arrangements accompanying notes by Herbert Hoover very clear indeed. And in his dedicatory are illuminating. But, for those who are preface, after summarising his book, he not mining engineers or metallurgists, explains exactly why he has done this: the replacement of Agricola’s rather So I have taken up this task, and if I general descriptions by modern have not completed it because it is technical words often adds little light – so extensive, I have certainly and sometimes has the opposite effect; endeavoured to do so; for I have for example, Hoover’s ‘upper cross ex libris RCPE expended much work and labour launder’ is less helpful to a general upon it and also laid out some reader than Agricola’s ‘upper transverse De re metallica libri XII expense.
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  • Georgius Agricola and Vannoccio Biringuccio, Long Deceased, Without Whose Work This Project Could Not Have Been Undertaken
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  • Rediscovery Ol the .Elements Agricola
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    minerals Article Medieval Pb (Cu-Ag) Smelting in the Colline Metallifere District (Tuscany, Italy): Slag Heterogeneity as a Tracer of Ore Provenance and Technological Process Laura Chiarantini 1,* , Marco Benvenuti 2 , Giovanna Bianchi 3, Luisa Dallai 3, Vanessa Volpi 3,4 and Rosarosa Manca 2 1 Centro di Microscopia Elettronica e Microanalisi, Università di Firenze, Via. G. Capponi 3r, 50121 Florence, Italy 2 Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, Università di Firenze, Via G. La Pira 4, 50121 Firenze, Italy; m.benvenuti@unifi.it (M.B.); rosarosa.manca@unifi.it (R.M.) 3 Dipartimento di Scienze Storiche e dei Beni Culturali, Università di Siena, Via Roma 56, 53100 Siena, Italy; [email protected] (G.B.); [email protected] (L.D.); [email protected] (V.V.) 4 Dipartimento di Biotecnologie, Chimica e Farmacia, Università di Siena, Via A. Moro 2, 53100 Siena, Italy * Correspondence: laura.chiarantini@unifi.it; Tel.: +39-055-2757792 Abstract: Archaeological investigations of the Colline Metallifere district (Southern Tuscany, Italy) have highlighted several Medieval sites located close to the main Cu-Pb-Fe (Ag) ore occurrences. This study is focused on the investigation of late-medieval slags from Cugnano and Montieri sites using both geochemical and mineralogical methods to understand slag heterogeneities as result of ore differences and technological processes. Matte-rich slags present in both sites (with abundant matte ± speiss and frequent relict phases) represent waste products related to primary sulphide ore smelting to obtain a raw lead bullion. The distribution of slags between the Ca-rich or Fe-rich dominant composition, and the consequent mineralogy, are tracers of the different ore–gangue Citation: Chiarantini, L.; Benvenuti, M.; Bianchi, G.; Dallai, L.; Volpi, V.; association that occurred in the two sites.
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  • The Great 16Th-Century Chroniclers of Pyrotechnology Go to Any Good Technical Library Today Verges on Plagiarism
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  • An Example Concerning Georgius Agricola (1494-1555)
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  • On Ignatius Born's Eighteenth Century So-Called European Amalgamation Process
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  • Bull. Hist. Chem. 12 (1992)
    ll. t. Ch. 2 (2 3 THE 1991 DEXTER ADDRESS Herbert Hoover and Georgius Agricola: The Distorting Mirrors of History Owen Hannaway, Johns Hopkins University In my address today I wish to take a comparative look at the lives and careers of two men who lived more than 300 years apart, but whose names have become inextricably linked in the English-speaking world of the history of science and technol- ogy. They are Herbert Hoover, mining engineer, organizer of international relief efforts during World War I and President of the United States of America; and Georgius Agricola, 16th- century humanist, physician, and author of a number of works in Latin on the phenomena to be found underneath the earth. What linked these two men was a book - one of Agricola's books, namely, his De re metallica of 1556 that Herbert Hoover had translated into English and published in 1912 in a sumptuous edition, which in its typeface, quality of paper and vellum binding sought to come as close as possible to the magnificent standards of the original masterpiece of Renais- sance printing that was published by Froben in Basel (1). Not the least of the glories of the original, and the translation, were the hundreds of woodcuts that illustrated the book. These depicted the miners and smelters, tools and machines, tech- rbrt vr t 40, t r ftr pblhn h trnltn niques and processes of the mines of Saxony and Bohemia in f Arl De re metallica the mid-16th century where Agricola had lived, worked and made profitable investments, By 1912, the year the translation he went to Stanford he had the intention of becoming a mining was published, Herbert Hoover had made successful invest- engineer, but there being no curriculum in that subject, he ments, too, and was, in fact, close to the apex of his career as followed the courses for mechanical engineering in his first a mining engineer and consultant who, from his base in year.
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