Obituary | F. Donald Bloss 1920 – 2020
THE MICROSCOPE
2020, Volume 68:1, pp. 46–47
DOI
https://doi.org/10.59082/EYTQ2655
AUTHORS
Dean Golemis
EXCERPT
Donald Bloss, widely regarded as the father of modern optical mineralogy, died on April 22, 2020, just over a month before his 100th birthday, in Blacksburg, VA. A prolific author, esteemed instructor, and innovator of the detent spindle stage for the polarized light microscope, Dr. Bloss inspired generations of mineralogists, geologists, and microscopists. Dr. Bloss was a longtime professor in the department of geosciences at Virginia Tech University and is renowned for his extensive research in optical mineralogy and crystallography. His three textbooks — An Introduction to the Methods of Optical Crystallography (1961), Crystallography and Crystal Chemistry (1971), and Optical Crystallography Simplified, The Spindle Stage: Principles and Practice (1981) — are regarded as classics in their field and are still used by researchers and students today.