How did Ernst Chladni help establish the scientific study of meteorites?

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Meteor and meteoroid The Cabin Creek meteorite, an iron (nickel-iron alloy) meteorite that was observed to fall in northwestern Arkansas on March 27, 1886. Its characteristic pattern of “thumbprint” dimples, or regmaglypts, is the result of melting and consequent ablation of its surface as it traveled through the atmosphere. The meteorite is likely a fragment of one of the M class asteroids, which show significant nickel-iron in their surface material.

In the 18th century, the scientific community largely dismissed the possibility of stones falling from the sky, often discarding genuine specimens as relics of superstition. The German physicist Ernst Florens Friedrich Chladni challenged this prevailing skepticism in 1794 by defending the credibility of historical accounts regarding such falls.1

By advocating for the legitimacy of these reports, Chladni effectively initiated the scientific discipline of meteoritics. His work laid the foundation for the field, which gained further empirical validation when a well-documented shower of stones fell at L’Aigle, France, in 1803, ultimately convincing the scientific world of the reality of meteorites.1