Abraham Gottlob Werner

Abraham Gottlob Werner was a German geologist who set out an early theory of the stratification of the Earth's crust and propounded a history of the Earth that came to be known as Neptunism. Most tenets of Neptunism were eventually set aside, but Werner is remembered for his demonstration of chronological succession in rocks, for the zeal with which he inspired his students, and for the impulse he gave to the systematic study of geology, earning him the title father of German geology.