1530-1594

German metallurgist who wrote the first descriptive review of metallurgical chemistry. Ercker studied at the University of Wittenberg before holding several governmental positions in Saxony. He later became a control tester for coins near Prague, Czechoslovakia. In 1574, he wrote Beschreibung allerfürnemisten mineralischen Ertzt und Berckwercksarten (Description of Leading Ore Processing and Mining Methods), which reviewed current techniques for testing alloys and minerals of silver, gold, copper, antimony, mercury, bismuth, and lead, and for refining those minerals.