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Article: Philadelphia Academy of natural sciences.
- Article from:
- The Mineralogical Record
- Article date:
- July 1, 2007
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2007 The Mineralogical, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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In the early years of the Republic, Philadelphia was known as "the Athens of America" because of its cosmopolitan egalitarianism and its many learned institutions. But up until the 1790's no one in America knew anything about mineralogy. The first American to receive formal training in that subject was Adam Seybert, a 1794 graduate of the School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. With medical degree in hand, he left for Europe in 1794 to continue his studies in Edinburgh, London, Paris and Gottingen. During the next two years he developed in increasing interest in mineralogy, studied under the famous crystallographer Rene Hauy in Paris, and acquired a ...