Geochemistry

Geochemistry did not come into its own as a science until the 1800s. The discoveries of hydrogen and oxygen (two of the most important elements needed for life on earth) in 1766 by Henry Cavendish and in 1770 by Joseph Priestley, respectively, opened the door for understanding chemical elements and the concept of the atom. Russia stakes claim to the founder of geochemistry, V. I. Vernadsky. Vernadsky was an expert in mineralogy and was the first to relate chemical elements to the formation of minerals in nature. Also in the 1800s, pioneering geochemists discovered how to produce salt from seawater and identified other elements and compounds like ozone, which helped in the understanding of the creation of life on earth and the chemical requirements for maintaining it. The first American geochemist was F. W. Clarke, who became the chief chemist of the United States Geological Survey shortly after it was founded in 1884.