- Henry Clifton Sorby
Henry Clifton Sorby (
May 10 ,1826 –March 9 ,1908 ), English microscopist andgeologist , was born at Woodbourne nearSheffield inYorkshire .He attended
Sheffield Collegiate School .He early developed an interest in
natural science , and one of his first papers related to the excavation of valleys inYorkshire . He subsequently dealt with thephysical geography of former geological periods, with the wave-structure in certain stratified rocks, and the origin of slaty cleavage.He took up the study of rocks and minerals under the
microscope , and published an important memoir "On the Microscopical Structure of Crystals" in 1858 ("Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc."). In England he was one of the pioneers inpetrography ; he was awarded theWollaston medal by theGeological Society of London in 1869. When president of the society, he published in his addresses the results of original researches on the structure and origin oflimestone s, and of the non-calcareous stratified rocks (1879-1880).He had previously been president of the
Royal Microscopical Society . He wrote on the construction and use of the micro-spectroscope in the study of animal and vegetable colouring matter, and in later essays he dealt with such varied subjects as the microscopical structure ofiron andsteel , and the temperature of the water in estuaries.He also applied his skill in making preparations of
invertebrate animals for lantern-slides. In 1882 he was elected president of Firth College, Sheffield. Sorby also worked hard for the establishment of theUniversity of Sheffield and had a university hall of residence named after him,Sorby Hall , which was built in the 1960's and demolished in August 2006. There is also a wing at theNorthern General Hospital named after him.Both the
International Association of Sedimentologists and theYorkshire Geological Society haveSorby Medal s named in honour of Sorby's achievements in geology.Dorsa Sorby on the Moon is named after him.External links
* [http://www.sorby.org.uk/hcsorby.shtml Biographical material, Sorby Natural History Society, Sheffield]
* [http://www.iasnet.org/members/awards.asp Sorby Medal, International Association of Sedimentologists]
* [http://earth.leeds.ac.uk/ygs/medals.htm Sorby Medal, Yorkshire Geological Society]----
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