1 / VOL. 2, NO. 5 ISSN 1430-4171 THE CHEMICAL EDUCATOR http://journals.springer-ny.com/chedr © 1997 SPRINGER-VERLAG NEW YORK, INC. 10.1007/s00897970143a Chemistry and History Victor Moritz Goldschmidt (1888–1947): A Tribute to the Founder of Modern Geochemistry on the Fiftieth Anniversary of His Death GEORGE B. KAUFFMAN California State University, Fresno Fresno, CA 93740-0070
[email protected] …filled with oldschmidt combined a number of widely separated sciences to synthesize a new structural sorrow and crystal chemistry. Although his work on the tragedy, he Grelative abundances of the elements, atomic and ionic radii, interionic distances, the effect of radius ratio on continued to coordination number in crystals, replacement of ions in minerals, and the lanthanide contraction is found in almost maintain his every textbook of general and inorganic chemistry and has intense interest in provided the basis for modern crystal chemistry and the use of size relationships for interpreting properties of inorganic the elements and substances, Goldschmidt’s name, life, and career remain their genesis, relatively unknown to most chemical educators and practicing chemists. affinities, and Goldschmidt used the basic properties of matter to provide associations…. simple and elegant explanations for the composition of our 2 / VOL. 2, NO. 5 ISSN 1430-4171 THE CHEMICAL EDUCATOR http://journals.springer-ny.com/chedr © 1997 SPRINGER-VERLAG NEW YORK, INC. S 1430-4171 (97)05143-3 environment. Throughout his relatively brief career, filled with sorrow and tragedy, he continued to maintain his intense interest in the elements and their genesis, affinities, and associations despite his changes from one method to another in his attempts to obtain new and more complete data.