author
Karl Alfred von Zittel
1839–1904
A leading 19th-century paleontologist, he helped turn the study of fossils into a more systematic science. He is especially remembered for the monumental Handbuch der Palaeontologie, a reference work that shaped the field for years.
2 Audiobooks
Grundzüge der Paläontologie (Paläozoologie). 1. Abteilung: Invertebrata.
by Karl Alfred von Zittel
Grundzüge der Paläontologie (Paläozoologie). 2. Abteilung: Vertebrata.
by Karl Alfred von Zittel
About the author
Born in Bahlingen, Baden, on September 25, 1839, Karl Alfred von Zittel studied in Heidelberg, Paris, and Vienna before beginning his academic career in geology and paleontology. Early on, he worked with the Geological Survey of Austria and the mineralogical museum in Vienna, then went on to teach at Karlsruhe and later at the University of Munich.
Zittel became one of the best-known paleontologists of his time through both research and teaching. He wrote the multi-volume Handbuch der Palaeontologie, an ambitious work that organized a huge range of fossil knowledge and helped make paleontology a more rigorous discipline.
He also carried out important fieldwork, including studies connected with expeditions to Egypt and the Libyan Desert, where he investigated the geology and fossil record of North Africa. He died in Munich on January 5, 1904, leaving behind a body of work that remained influential long after his lifetime.