Muller, Franz Joseph

Tellurium (Te, [Kr]4<7l05.v25/ 4), name and symbol after the Latin word tellus (earth). Discovered (1782) by Franz Joseph Muller von Reichstein. 

Tellurium - the atomic number is 52 and the chemical symbol is Te. The name derives from the Latin Tellus, who was the Roman goddess of the earth . It was discovered by the Roumanian mine director Franz Joseph Muller von Reichenstein in 1782 and overlooked for sixteen years imtil it was first isolated by German chemist Martin-Heiniich Klaproth in 1798. The Hungarian chemist Paul Kitaibel independently discovered tellurium in 1789, prior to Klaproth s work but after von Reichenstein. 

Two people are responsible for the discovery of tellurium. First, Franz Joseph Muller von Reichenstein (1743—1825), chief inspector of a gold mine in Transylvania (part of Romania), experimented with the ores in his mine between 1782 and 1783. From an ore known as aurum album, he extracted an element that, at first, was thought to be antimony. He sent a sample to Martin Heinrich Klaproth (1743—1817), who 16 years later correctly identified it as a new element and named it tellurium. However, Klaproth gave Franz Joseph Muller credit for the discovery. 

Schemuitz (Selmeczbanya, or Stiavnica Banska). Franz Joseph Muller, the discoverer of tellurium, was educated at the Schemnitz School of Mines.

This view, however, was opposed by a distinguished contemporary. Baron Franz Joseph Muller von Reichenstein was bom at Sibiu, (Nagy-szeben or Hermannstadt) in the Transylvanian Alps on July 1, 1740. After receiving his elementary education in his native city, he went to Vienna to study philosophy and law. Later he became so deeply interested in mining, metallurgy, and chemistry that in 1763 he entered the famous School of Mines of Selmeczbanya, or Schemnitz (which is now known as Stiavnica Banska, Czechoslovakia). Here he studied under the capable leadership of N. J. Jacquin (1). 

Tellurium was discovered in 1782 by Austrian mineralogist Baron Franz Joseph Muller von Reichenstein (1740—c. 1825). The element seldom occurs in its pure state. It is usually found as a compound in ores of gold, silver, copper, lead, mercury, or bismuth. The most common... 

Austrian mineralogist Baron Franz Joseph Muller von Reichenstein... 

Tellurium comes from the Latin tellus, meaning earth. In 1782, Franz Joseph Muller Freiherr von Reichenstein (1742-1825), a mine inspector in Transylvania, discovered a material that was similar to antimony. He sent it to Martin Heinrich Klaproth (1743-1817), who in 1789 identified it as a new element and named it. Another researcher, Paul Kitaibel (1757-1817), independently identified the new element the same year. Although tellurium occasionally occurs in elemental form, it is generally found as a compound. It is used as an alloy with copper and stainless steel, in some semiconductors, and in the manufacturing of blasting caps. 

Tellurium was discovered in gold ores by Franz Joseph Muller von Reich-enstein, the chief inspector of mines in Transylvania (Romania), in 1782. Tellurium was named, however, by M. Klaproth, who continned Muller von Reichenstein s work and isolated the element in 1798. Its name originates from the Latin tellus, which means earth. ... 

Walker. Austrian mineralogist Franz Joseph Muller discovers the element tellurium. 

MM. Miklosich, Franz, and Muller, Joseph, eds. Acta et diplomata graeca medii aevi. 6 vols. Vienna Gerold, 1860-1890 reprint, Aalen, 1868. 

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