Aloys Beck von Widmanstätten(1754 - 1849)

Born on July 13, 1754, in Graz. He was manager of the Pottendorf spinning-mill and in 1806 was called by the emperor to take the position of the director of the newly to be founded cabinet for industrial products (Fabriksproduktenkabinett). That collection later became the core collection of the Technical Museum for Crafts and Industries in Vienna. Stimulated by his colleague Carl von Schreibers he investigated the iron meteorite Hraschina. He applied a new preparation scheme by polishing and etching the metal with diluted nitric acid. The etching reveal the unusual texture of most iron meteorites now known as „Widmanstätten figures". His invention founded a new science: metallography. Aloys von Widmannstätten died on June 10, 1849, in his home in Vienna.