Heinrich Rose

Who was Heinrich Rose?

Heinrich Rose was a German mineralogist and analytical chemist. He was the brother of the mineralogist Gustav Rose and a son of Valentin Rose.

Rose's early works on phosphorescence were noted in the Quarterly Journal of Science in 1821, and on the strength of these works, he was elected privatdozent at the University of Berlin from 1822, then Professor from 1832. In 1846 he rediscovered the chemical element niobium, proving conclusively that it was different from tantalum. This confirmed that Charles Hatchett had discovered niobium in 1801 in columbite ore. Hatchett had named the new element "columbium", from the ore in which niobium and tantalium coexist. The element was eventually assigned the name niobium by the IUPAC in 1950 after Niobe, the daughter of Tantalus in Greek mythology. In 1845 Rose published the discovery of a new element pelopium, which he had found in the mineral tantalite. After subsequent research pelopium was identified to be a mixture of tantalum and niobium.

In 1830, he was elected a foreign member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.