Editing Widmanstätten pattern (section)

==Discovery==
[[File:Widmanstätten pattern Staunton meteorite.jpg|thumb|right|Widmanstätten pattern in the [[Staunton meteorite]]{{efn-lr|The [[Staunton meteorite]] was found near [[Staunton, Virginia]] in the mid-19th century. Six pieces of nickel-iron were located over a period of some decades, with a total weight of 270&nbsp;lb.<ref>{{Cite journal
  |title=Meteorites of Virginia
  |first=F.B.
  |last=Hoffer
  |date=August 1974
  |journal=Virginia Minerals
  |volume=20
  |issue=3
  |url=https://www.dmme.virginia.gov/commercedocs/VAMIN_VOL20_NO03.PDF
  |access-date=October 8, 2019
  |archive-date=September 18, 2021
  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210918194736/https://www.dmme.virginia.gov/commercedocs/VAMIN_VOL20_NO03.PDF
  |url-status=live
  }}</ref> }}]]
In 1808, these figures were observed by [[Count Alois von Beckh Widmanstätten]], the director of the Imperial Porcelain works in [[Vienna]]. While flame heating [[iron meteorite]]s,<ref>O. Richard Norton. ''Rocks from Space: Meteorites and Meteorite Hunters''. Mountain Press Pub. (1998) {{ISBN|0-87842-373-7}}</ref> Widmanstätten noticed color and [[Lustre (mineralogy)|luster]] zone differentiation as the various iron alloys oxidized at different rates. He did not publish his findings, claiming them only via oral communication with his colleagues. The discovery was acknowledged by [[Carl Franz Anton Ritter von Schreibers|Carl von Schreibers]], director of the Vienna Mineral and Zoology Cabinet, who named the structure after Widmanstätten.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Schreibers|first1=Carl von|title=Beyträge zur Geschichte und Kenntniß meteorischer Stein und Metalmassen, und Erscheinungen, welche deren Niederfall zu begleiten pflegen|trans-title=Contributions to the history and knowledge of meteoric stones and metallic masses, and phenomena which usually accompany their fall|date=1820|publisher=J.G. Heubner|location=Vienna, Austria|pages=70–72|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WONQAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA70|language=German}}</ref><ref name=burke>John G. Burke. ''Cosmic Debris: Meteorites in History''. University of California Press, 1986. {{ISBN|0-520-05651-5}}</ref>{{rp|124}}
However, it is now believed that the discovery of the metal crystal pattern should be assigned to the English mineralogist [[William Thomson (mineralogist)|William (''Guglielmo'') Thomson]], as he published the same findings four years earlier.<ref>Thomson, G. (1804) "Essai sur le fer malléable trouvé en Sibérie par le Prof. Pallas" (Essay on malleable iron found in Siberia by Prof. Pallas), ''Bibliotèque Britannique'', '''27''' :  [https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=umn.319510009686531;view=1up;seq=137 135–154] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191215220419/https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=umn.319510009686531;view=1up;seq=137 |date=December 15, 2019 }} ; [https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=umn.319510009686531;view=1up;seq=213 209–229.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191215220419/https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=umn.319510009686531;view=1up;seq=137 |date=December 15, 2019 }} (in French)</ref><ref name=burke /><ref name=vai /><ref name=cambridge>O. Richard Norton. ''The Cambridge Encyclopedia of meteorites''. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2002. {{ISBN|0-521-62143-7}}.</ref>

Working in Naples in 1804, Thomson treated a [[Krasnojarsk (meteorite)|Krasnojarsk]] [[meteorite]] with [[nitric acid]] to remove the dull patina caused by oxidation. Shortly after the acid made contact with the metal, strange figures appeared on the surface, which he detailed as described above. Civil wars and political instability in southern Italy made it difficult for Thomson to maintain contact with his colleagues in England. This was demonstrated in his loss of important correspondence when its carrier was murdered.<ref name=vai/> As a result, in 1804, his findings were only published in French in the ''[[Bibliothèque Britannique]]''.<ref name=burke />{{rp|124–125}} <ref name=vai>Gian Battista Vai, W. Glen E. Caldwell. [https://books.google.com/books?id=rmrGS9s-KewC&pg=PA184&dq=%22Biblioth%C3%A8que+Britannique%22+thomson&sig=ZXbXj71Nt1i5rVbfazzBGUrLftE#PPA184,M1''The origins of geology in Italy'']. Geological Society of America, 2006, {{ISBN|0-8137-2411-2}}</ref><ref name=Paneth>F. A. Paneth. ''The discovery and earliest reproductions of the Widmanstatten figures''. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 1960, 18, pp.176–182</ref> At the beginning of 1806, [[Napoleon I of France|Napoleon]] invaded the [[Kingdom of Naples]] and Thomson was forced to flee to [[Sicily]]<ref name=vai/> and in November of that year, he died in [[Palermo]] at the age of 46. In 1808, Thomson's work was again published posthumously in Italian (translated from the original English manuscript) in ''Atti dell'Accademia Delle Scienze di Siena''.<ref name=siena>{{cite journal|last1=Thomson|first1=G.|title=Saggio di G.Thomson sul ferro malleabile trovato da Pallas in Siberia|journal=Atti dell'Accademia delle Scienze di Siena|date=1808|volume=9|pages=37–57|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mv8EAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA37|trans-title=Essay by G. Thomson on malleable iron found by Pallas in Siberia|language=Italian}}</ref> The [[Napoleonic wars]] obstructed Thomson's contacts with the scientific community and his travels across Europe, in addition to his early death, obscured his contributions for many years.