Heinrich Göppert
Johann Heinrich Robert Göppert was a German botanist and paleontologist.
Career
He was born in Sprottau, Lower Silesia, and died at Breslau. In 1831, he became a professor of botany, as well as curator of the botanical gardens in Breslau. In 1852, he became director of the botanical gardens.He is particularly known for his work in paleobotany, being the author of many articles in this field. Göppert performed extensive research on the formation of coal and amber, and also conducted comparison studies between existing and fossil flora. In 1840, he demonstrated existence of plant cells in microscopic preparations of hard coal, which concluded a long-lasting debate on the origin of coal. His private collection of specimens of fossil flora was considered the finest in the world. Goeppert issued a series of thin sections, namely Arboretum fossile, Sammlung von Dünnschliffen fossiler Coniferenhölzer der palaeozoischen Formation. This work has certain characteristics in common with an exsiccata.
He was the father of a notable lawyer, Heinrich Robert Göppert, grandfather of Friedrich Göppert, and great-grandfather of Maria Goeppert-Mayer.
In 1861, he became foreign member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences. In 1862, he was elected as a member of the American Philosophical Society.
Göppert was a critic of Darwinism. In 1864 and 1865, he published papers criticising Charles Darwin's theory of common descent from research in botanical palaeontology.