TRANS-ATLANTIC CURRENTS: THE BRONGNIART (FRANCE)–CLEAVELAND (USA) EXCHANGES AND THE MATURATION OF MINERALOGY IN THE EARLY NINETEENTH CENTURY

Pivotal events in the evolution of a discipline include development of classification criteria, generation of respected textbooks, and incorporation of new concepts into educational curricula. Alexandre Brongniart (1770–1847), Director of Sèvres Porcelain from 1800 to 1847, wrote his Traité élémentaire de minéralogie in 1807, using chemical composition of minerals as the fundamental criterion of classification. Parker Cleaveland (1780–1858), of Bowdoin College, used Brongniart’s basic system when he authored his Elementary Treatise on Mineralogy in 1816. Both books became valued standard texts in their respective countries and were fundamental in educating students and professionals about mineral science. Cleaveland’s debt to Brongniart went far beyond the title, as Cleaveland readily admitted. The two men conducted a mutually beneficial trans-Atlantic exchange of letters and specimens. Benjamin Silliman, Sr. (1779–1864), of Yale College, was a friend of Cleaveland’s and soon became a correspondent with Brongniart, thereby furthering the flow of mineral information across the Atlantic Ocean.

Brongniart’s belief in the merit of using chemistry as a prime tool for mineral classification had its origins in German and Swedish work of the seventeenth century, as well as the French tradition in chemistry exemplified by Lavoisier and Haüy in the eighteenth century. Cleaveland studied the French and German systems and concluded that chemistry was a better mode of classification than the external form favored by Werner and other German naturalists. He presented his American readers with good synopses of then-contemporary European concepts, but argued forcefully for Brongniart’s vision. Within the American text, and in direct correspondence with his Parisian colleague, Cleaveland generously acknowledged his debt to French chemists.

Franco-American exchanges concerning mineralogy went well beyond the dialogue between Brongniart and Cleaveland. A number of Americans, such as Lardner Vanuxem, Archibald Bruce, and Gerard Troost were trained in Paris and shared their insights with North American colleagues. The reciprocal flow was also operative, as the French were interested in American minerals and ore-resource localities.