Jacob Forster (1739–1806) and his connections with forsterite and palladium

Abstract

SummaryThe person after whom forsterite was named has been confirmed as Jacob Forster (1739–1806), a mineral collector and dealer of London. The discovery of palladium and rhodium by William Hyde Wollaston and of iridium and osmium by Smithson Tennant appears to have been made on crude platinum ore from South America supplied by Forster.