Steno, Nicolaus

Steno, Nicolaus (nĭkəlā`əs stē`nō), Latinized form of Niels Stensen (nēls stān`sən), 1638–86, Danish anatomist, geologist, and Roman Catholic prelate. He lived principally in Copenhagen, Paris, and Florence. He investigated the heart, brain, muscles, and glands and discovered (1661) the excretory duct (duct of Steno) of the parotid gland (one of the pairs of salivary glands). He pointed out the true origin of geological strata and of fossils and recorded his studies of crystallization. He was converted from Lutheranism to Roman Catholicism in 1667, became a priest in 1675, and vicar apostolic in N Europe in 1677. In his devotion to missionary work he virtually abandoned science. His Earliest Geological Treatise (1667) was translated and edited by Axel Garboe (1960).

Bibliography

See study by A. Cutler (2003).

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Steno, Nicolaus

 Danish Niels Steensen or Niels Stensen

(born Jan. 10, 1638, Copenhagen, Den.—died Nov. 26, 1686, Schwerin, Prussia) Danish geologist and anatomist. An eminent physician, in 1660 he discovered the parotid salivary duct (Stensen's duct). In his geologic observations, he was the first to realize that the Earth's crust contains a chronological history of geologic events that might be deciphered by careful study of rock strata and fossils, which he identified as the remains of ancient living organisms. In 1669 he made the fundamental crystallographic discovery that all quartz crystals have the same angles between corresponding faces. He later abandoned science for religion and became a priest in 1675.

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Steno, Nicolaus 

Born Jan. 10, 1638, in Copenhagen; died Nov. 25,1686, in Schwerin. Danish naturalist.

Steno studied at the University of Copenhagen (he did not graduate) and in Amsterdam. He worked in Holland and Italy (Florence). In his study of human anatomy, Steno discovered the duct of the parotid gland (1660). He described the structure of muscles as consisting of longitudinal fibers and made an attempt to explain the mechanical process of muscular contraction (1664). In 1667, Steno established the similarity between the mammalian ovary and the ovary of oviparous animals.

Steno also made contributions to the sciences of crystallography and geology. He established the law of the invariance of crystal angles (Steno’s law) and described the crystals of diamond, quartz, and marcasite. Steno’s name is also associated with the law of the sequence of rock deposition: he showed that the inclined position of the strata of sedimentary rocks is a consequence of tectonic destruction, and he recognized the significance of unconformities.

REFERENCES

Belousov, V. V. “Nikolaus Steno—osnovopolozhnik geotektoniki.” Priroda, 1938, issue 5.
Shafranovskii, I. I. Nikolai Stenon — kristallograf, geolog, paleonto-log, anatom. Leningrad, 1972.
Eyles, V. A. “Nicolaus Steno, Seventeenth-century Anatomist, Geologist and Ecclesiastic.” Nature, 1954, vol. 174, issue 4418.