Carl Bernhard von Cotta (1808–79)

German geologist, palaeontologist, stratigrapher, mineralogist, and economic geologist. Made studies of mineral deposits of the eastern Alps, Hungary, and Romania. Studied the effects of soils on German geography and history. Published geological maps of Saxony in association with C. F. Nauman, professor of geognosy and geological mineralogy (Lagerstättenkunde), Freiberg University, 1836–44, and University of Thuringia, 1845–7. Appointed professor of geology, Freiberg University, 1842. Author of text-books, biographical memoirs, and popular works on geology. Published Modern geology (1866).