Werner, Abraham Gottlob 1749-1817
German geologist

Born in Wehrau, Silesia (now in Poland), he was one of the first to frame a classification of rocks and gave his name to the Wernerian (or Neptunian) theory of deposition. The controversy between the Neptunists and Plutonists became one of the great geological debates of the late 18th century. In essence Werner advocated that crystalline igneous rocks were formed by direct precipitation from sea water, as part of his overall system of strata from the crystalline 'primitive rocks' succeeded by the 'transition rocks', resting on highly inclined strata, the flat-lying and well-stratified 'floetz rocks' and finally the poorly stratified alluvial series. The Plutonists, led by James Hutton, were able to demonstrate the intrusive nature of such rocks. Werner was one of the great geological teachers of his time and many scholars, including Goethe and Leopold von Buch, travelled to Freiburg to study under him.