a German Humanist scholar, mineralogist and metallurgist. He is well known for his pioneering work De re metallica, that was published in 1556, one year after his death. This 12-volume work is a comprehensive and systematic study, classification and methodical guide on all available factual and practical aspects, that are of concern for mining, the mining sciences and metallurgy. Unrivalled in its complexity and accuracy, it served as the standard reference work for two centuries.
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note: De Re Metallica' serves as evidence how mining and extractive metallurgy has evolved. Its first chapter on the benefits and impacts of mining sounds remarkably familiar.
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