Karl Fischer (24 March 1901 – 16 April 1958) was a German

chemist A chemist (from Greek ''chēm(ía)'' alchemy; replacing ''chymist'' from Medieval Latin ''alchemist'') is a scientist trained in the study of chemistry. Chemists study the composition of matter and its properties. Chemists carefully describe th ...

. In 1935 he published a method to determine trace amounts of water in samples. This method is now called

Karl Fischer titration Karl Fischer titration is a classic titration method in chemical analysis that uses coulometric or volumetric titration to determine trace amounts of water in a sample. It was invented in 1935 by the German chemist Karl Fischer. Today, the titra ...

and was originally performed manually but has been automated. It remains the primary method of water content determination used worldwide by government, academia and industry laboratories, including all major chemical manufacturers and petroleum refiners.

References

1901 births 1958 deaths 20th-century German chemists Scientists from Munich {{Germany-chemist-stub