Andrey Borisovich VISTELIUS

Stephen Henley

doi:10.1007/978-3-319-78999-6_39

Abstract

This chapter provides a glimpse of the legacy of Professor Andrey Borisovich Vistelius, who served as the first President of the International Association for Mathematical Geoscientists (IAMG) during 1968–1972. Open image in new window Professor Andrey Borisovich Vistelius (1915–1995) was arguably the founder of the field of mathematical geology, and he was the first President of the International Association for Mathematical Geology. As a 1982 recipient of the President’s Prize (later renamed the Andrey Borisovich Vistelius Research Award) I consider it a great privilege to have been invited to contribute this chapter in his honour. The scientific heritage of Professor Vistelius is extremely rich. His active work on fundamental and applied problems of geology, and especially mathematical geology, continued to the last days of his life. He was responsible for more than 200 published works, each representing a significant contribution to science. His works cover a wide range of subjects, with contributions to the development of stratigraphy, mineralogy, petrography, petrology and geochemistry. The mathematical approach to geoscientific research, pioneered by Vistelius, has gained recognition worldwide. As applied in practice, these works also represent building blocks to more effective methods of search for minerals. There have been a number of publications about Vistelius, and in attempting to present a rounded view of his life and works, this chapter quotes from them extensively: particularly Dvali et al. (1970), Romanova and Sarmanov (1970), Dech and Glebovitsky (2000), Merriam (2001), Henley (2003), Dech and Henley (2003), and Whitten (2004). I also wish to acknowledge unpublished sources including Whitten, the late Merriam, Pshenichny, and Dech.

Highlights

Andrey Borisovich Vistelius was born on 7th December 1915 into the family of a Russian nobleman
The director of the laboratory and a Corresponding Member of the Academy, he organized a group to carry out investigations not just in the field of airborne methods, but mainly in the field of mathematical geology
At this time his group researched several approaches to the problem of comparison of geological sections and reconstruction of the processes of bed formation using the theory of random processes

Summary

39.1 Background

Andrey Borisovich Vistelius was born on 7th December 1915 into the family of a Russian nobleman. In 1968, Vistelius was instrumental, with others, in founding the International Association for Mathematical Geology, and was elected its first president His circumstances meant that he was unable to participate in many of IAMG’s activities, he continued work as a prolific researcher in Leningrad (subsequently St. Petersburg) with extensive publications in both English and Russian. Whitten (pers.comm.), during a visit to Leningrad in 1971, invited him to Northwestern University (Illinois) which Andrey Vistelius was able to accept for the Spring Quarter 1975, and his publication list reflects the results of research projects which he was able to undertake in the US during his time there He continued to work in St. Petersburg during the 1970s and 1980s, with a steady stream of research publications, in Russian and in English. This is a considerably reworked and enlarged English edition of his Russian monograph with the same title (Vistelius 1980)

39.2 Scientific Achievements and Insights

39.3 The International Association for Mathematical Geology

39.4 The “Father of Mathematical Geology”?

39.5 Legacy