Albert Atterberg

Who was Albert Atterberg?

Albert Mauritz Atterberg was a Swedish chemist and agricultural scientist who created the Atterberg limits that are commonly referred to by geotechnical engineers and engineering geologists today. In Sweden he is equally known for creating the Atterberg grainsize scale, which remains the one in use.

Atterberg received his Ph.D. in chemistry from Uppsala University in 1872 and stayed there as a lecturer in analytical chemistry until 1877, during which time he toured Sweden and abroad to study the latest developments in organic chemistry. He then went on to become the principal of the Chemical Station and Seed Control Institute at Kalmar, publishing numerous papers on agricultural research dealing with the classification of varieties of oats and corn between 1891 and 1900.

It was towards the age of fifty-four that Atterberg, while continuing his work on chemistry, began to focus his efforts on the classification and plasticity of soils, for which he is most remembered. Atterberg was apparently the first to suggest the limit <0.002 mm as a classification for clay particles.