Abraham Gottlob Werner

Who was Abraham Gottlob Werner?

Abraham Gottlob Werner, was a German geologist who set out an early theory about the stratification of the Earth's crust and propounded an earth history that others labeled Neptunism. While most tenets of Neptunism were eventually set aside, science is indebted to Werner for clearly demonstrating the chronological succession of rocks, for the zeal which he infused into his pupils, and for the impulse which he thereby gave to the study of geology. Much of his work was based on pre-existing traditions of stratigraphy and cosmogony in Europe. He has been called the “father of German geology.”