Christian Leopold von Buch

Christian Leopold von Buch
Christian Leopold von Buch Born April 26, 1774
Stolpe (Brandenburg) Died March 4, 1853
Nationality GermanFields geology

Christian Leopold Freiherr von Buch (April 26, 1774 - March 4, 1853) was a German geologist and paleontologist born in Stolpe (Brandenburg) and is remembered as one of the most important contributors to geology in the first half of the nineteenth century.

Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article Buch, Christian Leopold von, Baron.

He studied together with Alexander von Humboldt under Abraham Gottlob Werner and travelled widely afterwards. His scientific interest was devoted to a broad spectrum of geological topics: volcanism, fossils, stratigraphy and more. His most remembered accomplishment is the scientific definition of the jurassic system. He died in Berlin.

In 1815, he visited the Canary Islands. During his time in the Canary Islands, he visited the Las Cañadas Caldera on Tenerife and the Caldera de Taburiente on La Palma. When he published his memoirs and observations about his excursion, he introduced the Spanish word "Caldera" for "Bowl" into the geological and scientific vocabulary.

The German Geological Society (DGG) named its Leopold-von-Buch-Plakette after him.

Regarding personal names: Freiherr is a title, translated as Baron, not a first or middle name. The female forms are Freifrau and Freiin.