author
L. (Lazarus) Fletcher
1854–1921
A leading British mineralogist and museum director, he helped shape how minerals, rocks, and meteorites were studied and displayed in Britain. His career joined careful scientific work with years of service at the Natural History Museum in London.
1 Audiobook
An Introduction to the Study of Meteorites With a List of the Meteorites Represented in the Collection
by British Museum (Natural History). Department of Mineralogy, L. (Lazarus) Fletcher
About the author
Born in Salford in 1854, Lazarus Fletcher became one of Britain's best-known mineralogists and geologists. He studied at Balliol College, Oxford, taught physics there for a time, and then moved into museum work that would define most of his career.
Fletcher served at the Natural History Museum in London as Keeper of Mineralogy from 1880 to 1909 and then as director from 1909 to 1919. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1889, received the Wollaston Medal in 1912, and was knighted in 1916.
He was especially known for his work on minerals, crystallography, and meteorites, as well as for writing clear museum guides that introduced these subjects to a wider public. Fletcher died in 1921, leaving behind a strong reputation as both a scientist and a museum leader.