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1 Ercker, Lazarus
[br]b. c.1530 Annaberg, Saxony, Germanyd. 1594 Prague, Bohemia[br]German chemist and metallurgist.[br]Educated at Wittenberg University during 1547–8, Ercker obtained in 1554, through one of his wife's relatives, the post of Assayer from the Elector Augustus at Dresden. From then on he took a succession of posts in mining and metallurgy. In 1555 he was Chief Consultant and Supervisor of all matters relating to mines, but for some unknown reason was demoted to Warden of the Mint at Annaberg. In 1558 he travelled to the Tyrol to study the mines in that region, and in the same year Prince Henry of Brunswick appointed him Warden, then Master, of the Mint at Goslar. Ercker later moved to Prague where, through another of his wife's relatives, he was appointed Control Tester at Kutna Hora. It was there that he wrote his best-known book, Die Beschreibung allfürnemisten mineralischen Ertz, which drew him to the attention of the Emperor Maximilian, who made him Courier for Mining and a clerk of the Supreme Court of Bohemia. The next Emperor, Rudolf II, a noted patron of science and alchemy, promoted Ercker to Chief Inspector of Mines and ennobled him in 1586 with the title Von Schreckenfels'. His second wife managed the mint at Kutna Hora and his two sons became assayers. These appointments gained him much experience of the extraction and refining of metals. This first bore fruit in a book on assaying, Probierbüchlein, printed in 1556, followed by one on minting, Münzbuch, in 1563. His main work, Die Beschreibung, was a systematic review of the methods of obtaining, refining and testing the alloys and minerals of gold, silver, copper, antimony, mercury and lead. The preparation of acids, salts and other compounds is also covered, and his apparatus is fully described and illustrated. Although Ercker used Agricola's De re metattica as a model, his own work was securely based on his practical experience. Die Beschreibung was the first manual of analytical and metallurgical chemistry and influenced later writers such as Glauber on assaying. After the first edition in Prague came four further editions in Frankfurt-am-Main.[br]BibliographyDie Beschreibung allfürnemisten mineralischen Ertz, Prague. 1556, Probierbuchlein.1563, Munzbuch.Further ReadingP.R.Beierlein, 1955, Lazarus Ercker, Bergmann, Hüttenmann und Münzmeister im 16. Jahrhundert, Berlin (the best biography, although the chemical details are incomplete).J.R.Partington, 1961, History of Chemistry, London, Vol. II, pp. 104–7.E.V.Armstrong and H.Lukens, 1939, "Lazarus Ercker and his Probierbuch", J.Chem. Ed.16: 553–62.LRD -
2 Ebener, Erasmus
SUBJECT AREA: Metallurgy[br]b. 21 December 1511 Nuremberg, Germanyd. 24 November 1577 Helmstedt, Germany[br]German mining entrepreneur who introduced a new method ofbrassmaking.[br]A descendant of Nuremberg nobility, Ebener became recognized as a statesman in his native city and was employed also by foreign dignitaries. His appointment as Privy Councillor to the Dukes of Brunswick involved him in mining and metallurgical affairs at the great Rammelsberg mixed-ore mine at Goslar in the Harz mountains. About 1550, at Rammelsberg, Ebener is believed to have made brass by incorporating accretions of zinc formed in crevices of local lead-smelting furnaces. This small-scale production of impure zinc, formerly discarded as waste, could be used to replace calamine, the carbonate ore of zinc, which by tradition had been combined with copper in European brassmaking. Ercker, writing in 1574, mentions the accretions at Goslar obtained by removing furnace sections to make this material available for brass. The true nature of the zinc ore, calamine, and zinc metal compared with these accretions was determined only much later, but variation in quality with respect to impurities made the material most suitable for cast brassware rather than beaten goods. As quantities were small and much valued, distribution from Goslar was limited, not normally reaching Britain, where production of brasses continued to rely on calamine or expensive zinc imports from the East. Rammelsberg profited from the waste material accumulating over the years and its use at Bundheim brassworks east of Goslar. Ebener partnered Duke Henry the Younger of Brunswick in financing a new drainage adit at Rammelsberg, and was later granted several iron mines and smelting works. From 1556 he was granted rights to market calamine from the Lower Harz and copper sulphate from Rammelsberg. Ebener later had an important role at the court of Duke Julius, son of Henry, advising him on the founding of Helmstedt University.[br]Bibliography1572, "Sundry expositions on mines, metals and other useful things found in the Harz and especially at the Rammelsberg", reproduced and annotated by F.J.F.Meyer and J.F.L.Hausmann, 1805 Hercynian Archive.Further ReadingBeckmann, 1846, History of Inventions, Vol. II, trans. William Johnston, London (the most concise account).W.Bornhardt, 1989, "The History of Rammelsberg Mine", trans. T.A.Morrison, The Mining Journal (has additional brief references to Ebener in the context of Rammelsberg).JD -
3 Metallurgy
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4 Mining and extraction technology
See also: INDEX BY SUBJECT AREA[br]Biographical history of technology > Mining and extraction technology
См. также в других словарях:
Ercker, Lazarus — born с 1530, Annaberg, Saxony died с 1594, Prague, Bohemia German writer on early metallurgy. In 1554 Ercker was appointed assayer at Dresden, the first of his many positions in the Saxony bureaucracy, and later became a control tester of coins.… … Universalium
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