ALBERT VON ST GALLEN

See also:

• ALBERT VON ST GALLEN HEIM (1849- )
• HEIM, FRANCOIS JOSEPH (1787-1865)

HEIM (1849- )  , Swiss geologist, was born at Zurich on the 12th of April 1849 . He was educated at Zurich and Berlin universities . Very early in life he became interested in the physical features of the Alps, and at the age of sixteen he made a model of the Todi group . This came under the notice of Arnold Escher von der Linth, to whom Heim was indebted for much encouragement and geological instruction in the field . In 1873 he became professor of geology in the polytechnic school at Zurich, and in 1875 professor of geology in the university . In 1882 he was appointed director of the Geological Survey of Switzerland, and in 1884 the hon. degree of Ph.D. was conferred upon him at Berne . He is especially distinguished for his researches on the structure of the Alps and for the light thereby thrown on the structure of mountain masses in general . He traced the plications from minor to major stages, and illustrated the remarkable foldings and overthrust faultings in numerous sections and with the aid of pictorial drawings . His magnificent work, Mechanismus der Gebirgsbiidung (1878), is now regarded as a classic, and it served to inspire Professor C . Lapworth in his brilliant researches on the Scottish Highlands (see Geol . Meg . 1883) .

Heim also devoted consider-able

attention to the glacial phenomena of the Alpine regions . The Wollaston medal was awarded to him in 1904 by the Geological Society of London .