View source for Herbert Smith (mineralogist)

{{Short description|British mineralogist (1872{{ndash}}1953)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2024}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2015}}
{{Infobox scientist
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| name              = Herbert Smith
| honorific_suffix  = CBE
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| birth_date        = {{birth date|1872|05|26|df=y}}
| birth_place       = [[Edgbaston]], England
| death_date        = {{death date and age|1953|04|20 |1872|05|26|df=y}}
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| fields            = Mineralogy, gemmology
| workplaces        = British Museum (Natural History), London
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| education         = Winchester College
| alma_mater        = [[New College, Oxford]]
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| known_for         = Gemstones (1912)
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[[File:Herbert Smith refractometer.gif|thumb|Herbert Smith's [[refractometer]]]]
'''George Frederick Herbert Smith''' [[Order of the British Empire|CBE]] (26 May 1872 {{ndash}} 20 April 1953) was a British [[mineralogist]] who worked for the [[Natural History Museum, London|British Museum (Natural History)]].<ref name=mindat /> He discovered the mineral [[paratacamite]] in 1906, and developed a jeweller's refractometer for the rapid identification of gems.<ref>{{Cite journal|url=http://www.minsocam.org/ammin/AM69/AM69_391.pdf|last=Hurlbut Jr.|first=C.S.|year=1984|title=The jewelers refractometer as a mineralogical tool|journal=American Mineralogist|volume=69|pages=391–398}}</ref> The minerals [[smithite]] and [[herbertsmithite]] are named after him,<ref name=mindat>{{Cite web|url=http://www.mindat.org/min-26600.html|title=Herbertsmithite: Mineral information, data and localities.}}</ref> as is [[Herbert's rock-wallaby]].<ref name="auto2">{{cite journal|last=Thomas|first=Oldfield|title=On various mammals obtained during Capt. Wilkin's expedition in Australia. ''Petrogale herberti''|journal=The Annals and Magazine of Natural History |series=Ninth Series |year=1926|volume=xvii|pages=626–7}}</ref>
==Career==
Smith was born in 1872, went to school at [[Winchester College]] and then to [[New College, Oxford]]. In Oxford, he studied mathematics from 1891 to 1895, gaining first class marks, and then graduated in physics in 1896.<ref name="auto3">{{Cite journal|url=https://www.nature.com/articles/135948b0|title=Dr. Herbert Smith|date=1 June 1935|journal=Nature|volume=135|issue=3423|pages=948|via=www.nature.com|doi=10.1038/135948b0|bibcode=1935Natur.135R.948. }}</ref> Smith was appointed as an assistant in the British Museum (Natural History) in December 1896.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/26802/page/7324|title=Page 7324 &#124; Issue 26802, 11 December 1896 &#124; London Gazette &#124; The Gazette|website=www.thegazette.co.uk}}</ref> He worked in the mineralogy department of the museum until 1921, when he became assistant secretary of the museum, succeeding Charles E. Fagan.<ref name="auto">{{Cite journal|url=https://www.nature.com/articles/1711093a0|title=Dr. G. F. Herbert Smith, C.B.E.|first=W. Campbell|last=Smith|date=25 June 1953|journal=Nature|volume=171|issue=4364|pages=1093–1094|via=www.nature.com|doi=10.1038/1711093a0|bibcode=1953Natur.171.1093S }}</ref>
In his mineralogical career, Smith worked on topics including the determination of mineral structures and compositions. He wrote papers on the structure of the gold telluride mineral [[calaverite]] ({{Chem2|AuTe2)}};<ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/mineralogical-magazine-and-journal-of-the-mineralogical-society/article/abs/on-the-remarkable-problem-presented-by-the-crystalline-development-of-calaverite/4308064072194D2819CB04DACA42BEF8|title=On the remarkable problem presented by the crystalline development of Calaverite|first1=G. F. Herbert|last1=Smith|first2=G. T.|last2=Prior|date=26 May 1902|journal=Mineralogical Magazine and Journal of the Mineralogical Society|volume=13|issue=60|pages=122–150|via=Cambridge University Press|doi=10.1180/minmag.1902.13.60.03|bibcode=1902MinM...13..122S }}</ref> and he described the new copper-zinc oxychloride mineral [[paratacamite]].<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Smith|first1=G.F.H.|last2=Prior|first2=G.T.|year=1906|title=Paratacamite, a new oxychloride of copper|journal=Mineralogical Magazine|volume=14|issue=65 |pages=170–177|doi=10.1180/minmag.1906.014.65.09 |bibcode=1906MinM...14..170S }}</ref> Smith also developed new instruments for the practical measurement of the crystallographic and optical features of minerals and gems (goniometers and a refractometer),<ref name="auto3"/> and wrote a text book on gemstones and gemmology that was first published in 1912,<ref>{{cite book|last=Smith|first=G. F. Herbert|title=Gem-stones and their distinctive characters|url=https://archive.org/details/gemstonestheirdi00smitrich/mode/2up|year=1912|publisher=Methuen}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://www.nature.com/articles/089294b0|title=Gem-stones and their Distinctive Characters|first=J. W.|last=J.|date=26 May 1912|journal=Nature|volume=89|issue=2221|pages=294|via=www.nature.com|doi=10.1038/089294b0|bibcode=1912Natur..89..294J }}</ref> and went through many editions, with the thirteenth edition published in 1958.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Stuart|first=Alan|year=1959|journal=Science Progress|title=Reviewed Work: Gemstones. Thirteenth edition by G. F. Herbert Smith, F. C. Phillips|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/43417006|volume=47|pages=169–170|jstor=43417006 }}</ref>
In his role as secretary of the museum, he oversaw the expansion of the museum and the creation of new buildings for the department of entomology; and he was in charge of the celebrations of the 50th anniversary of the Natural History museum in 1931. He also started the practice of selling postcards of museum items, and established a sports club for the staff of the museum.<ref name="auto"/> He served as secretary of the museum until 1935,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/d04250e2-67ac-4b2b-8c1e-4c13f698b505|title=Records of Central Administration of the Natural History Museum|via=The National Archives}}</ref> before returning to the mineralogical department for two years before retirement.<ref name="auto3"/> He retired in 1937.<ref name="auto1">{{Cite journal|url=https://www.nature.com/articles/139873a0|title=Dr. G. F. Herbert Smith|date=1 May 1937|journal=Nature|volume=139|issue=3525|pages=873|via=www.nature.com|doi=10.1038/139873a0|bibcode=1937Natur.139Q.873. }}</ref>
In 1927, in conjunction with the [[Society of Civil and Public Servants|Society of Civil Servants]], Smith arranged for a special train to take civil servants to [[Richmond, Yorkshire]], to view the [[Solar eclipse of June 29, 1927|solar eclipse]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/1556af3d-db9a-4921-aca8-bcf87de27b7f|title=Total eclipse of the sun, 28 June 1927: printed papers relating to the Civil Service excursion led by George Frederick Herbert Smith|date=25 October 1927|via=UK National Archives}}</ref><ref name="auto"/> Smith provided pieces of smoked glass for viewing, and wrote a guide to the eclipse. Richmond was in the line of totality, and many thousands of visitors attended on fleets of special excursion trains that day, including [[Virginia Woolf]], who described the events in her diary and in a 1928 essay ''The Sun and the Fish''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/24233606.recalling-1927-total-eclipse-uncovering-skeeby-hoard/|title=The day the sun went out in the dales, and uncovering the Skeeby hoard|date=7 April 2024|website=The Northern Echo}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.closeupfilmcentre.com/library/essay/disembodied-intercourse/|title=Close-Up &#124; Disembodied Intercourse: Reflections on Virginia Woolf's 'The Sun and the Fish'|website=www.closeupfilmcentre.com}}</ref> At totality, the Sun was obscured by clouds.<ref name="auto"/>
==Professional service==
In 1918, Smith helped to establish the Society of Civil Servants 'to cover the middle and upper grades of the service'.<ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://www.nature.com/articles/102185a0|title=The Society of Civil Servants|first=G. F. Herbert|last=Smith|date=26 November 1918|journal=Nature|volume=102|issue=2558|pages=185–186|via=www.nature.com|doi=10.1038/102185a0|bibcode=1918Natur.102..185S }}</ref> He was honorary secretary of this society from 1918 to 1925, vice-president from 1925 to 1928, and president for the period 1928 to 1932.<ref name="auto1"/>
Smith played a major role in the professional work of gemmologists in the United Kingdom. He set and marked the first diploma in gemmology (from 1912),<ref name="auto"/> and was later an examiner for the [[Gemmological Association of Great Britain]] (Gem-A) from 1931 to 1951. He was elected president of the association from 1942 to 1953, and was awarded the title of honorary fellow in 1946.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Anon.|year=1968|title=Sixty years of Gemmology in Great Britain|journal=Journal of Gemmology|volume=11|issue=3 |pages=69–80|doi=10.15506/JoG.1968.11.3.69 }}</ref>
Smith served on the council of the [[Royal Albert Hall]] from 1930 to 1953, and worked for many years for the society for the promotion of nature reserves, which eventually became the UK government agency, [[Nature Conservancy (UK)|Nature Conservancy]] in 1948 and the [[Countryside Commission|National Parks Commission]] in 1949.<ref name="auto"/><ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://www.nature.com/articles/160457a0|title=Nature Protection in Great Britain|first=G. F. Herbert|last=Smith|date=1 October 1947|journal=Nature|volume=160|issue=4066|pages=457–459|via=www.nature.com|doi=10.1038/160457a0|bibcode=1947Natur.160..457S }}</ref>
==Recognition==
In 1905, mineralogist R H Solly named a silver arsenic sulphide mineral ({{chem2|AgAsS2}}) [[smithite]] after Smith. This mineral was from the [[Lengenbach Quarry]] in the [[Binn]] valley, Switzerland. At that time, Smith was working on other minerals from the same location.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Solly|first=RH|year=1905|title=Some new minerals from the Binnenthal, Switzerland|journal=Mineralogical Magazine|volume=14|issue=64 |pages=72–82|url=https://rruff.geo.arizona.edu/doclib/MinMag/Volume_14/14-64-72.pdf|doi=10.1180/minmag.1905.014.64.03|bibcode=1905MinM...14...72S }}</ref><ref name="auto"></ref> In 2004, a copper zinc oxychloride mineral ({{Chem2|ZnCu3(OH)6Cl2}}) [[herbertsmithite]] was named after Smith, since it was found to share chemical and structural features with paratacamite, which Smith had discovered in 1906.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Braithwaite |first1=RSW|last2=Mereiter|first2=K|last3=Paar|first3=WH|last4=Clark|first4=AM|year=1004|title=Herbertsmithite, Cu3Zn(OH)6Cl2, a new species, and the definition of paratacamite|journal=Mineralogical Magazine|volume=68|issue=3 |pages=527–539|url=https://rruff.geo.arizona.edu/doclib/mm/vol68/MM68_527.pdf|doi=10.1180/0026461046830204}}</ref>
In 1926, [[Herbert's rock-wallaby]], ''Petrogale herberti'' was named in Smith's honour, to reflect the assistance he had provided to [[Hubert Wilkins]], on whose expedition the wallaby had been discovered.<ref name="auto2"/>
In June 1949, Smith was awarded the [[Order of the British Empire|CBE]] for 'services to the flora and fauna of the British Isles'.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/38628/supplement/2803|title=Page 2803 &#124; Supplement 38628, 3 June 1949 &#124; London Gazette &#124; The Gazette|website=www.thegazette.co.uk}}</ref>
==Family==
Smith married Rosalie Ellerton (d. 1936), and they had a daughter. Smith died on 20 April 1953, after a short illness.<ref name="auto"/>
==References==
{{reflist}}
== External links ==
* Works by [https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/51216 Herbert Smith] at [[Project Gutenberg]]
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Herbert}}
[[Category:1872 births]]
[[Category:1953 deaths]]
[[Category:British mineralogists]]
[[Category:Employees of the British Museum]]
[[Category:Alumni of New College, Oxford]]
[[Category:People educated at Winchester College]]
[[Category:Gemologists]]
[[Category:Commanders of the Order of the British Empire]]