Wilhelm Heinrich Sebastian Bucholz (23 December 1734, Bernburg – 16 December 1798) was a German

pharmacist A pharmacist, also known as a chemist (Commonwealth English) or a druggist (North American and, archaically, Commonwealth English), is a healthcare professional who prepares, controls and distributes medicines and provides advice and instructi ...

and chemist. Trained as a pharmacist in Magdeburg and Weimar, he later studied medicine at the University of Jena, where he obtained his doctorate in 1764. Several years later, he became head of the ''Hofapotheke'' (court pharmacy) in Weimar. Here, Johann Friedrich August Göttling worked as his assistant and

Johann Trommsdorff Johann Bartholomew (Bartholomäus) Trommsdorff (8 May 1770, Erfurt – 8 March 1837), was a German chemist and pharmacist noted for his 1805 ''Systematisches Handbuch der Gesammten Chemie'' (Systematic Handbook of the Whole of Chemistry); a wo ...

served as an apprentice. As his career progressed, he received the posts of ''Hof-Medikus'' (court physician, 1777) and ''Bergrat'' (counsellor of mines, 1782). He was a friend and consultant to Johann Wolfgang von Goethe on the matter of scientific issues. Goethe observed Bucholz's attempt to build a

Montgolfier balloon A hot air balloon is a lighter-than-air aircraft consisting of a bag, called an envelope, which contains heated air. Suspended beneath is a gondola or wicker basket (in some long-distance or high-altitude balloons, a capsule), which carries p ...

. Reportedly, the two men conducted water purification experiments through the use of powdered

charcoal Charcoal is a lightweight black carbon residue produced by strongly heating wood (or other animal and plant materials) in minimal oxygen to remove all water and volatile constituents. In the traditional version of this pyrolysis process, cal ...

. Bucholz remained an honored member of Goethe's ''Freitagsgesellschaft'' up until his death in 1798.

Selected works

* ''Chymische Versuche über einige der neuesten einheimischen antiseptischen Substanzen'', 1776 – Chemical experiments on some of the latest local antiseptic substances. * ''Bartlet's Pharmacopee oder Apotheke eines Rossarztes'', 1778 – "Pharmacopoeia Bartleiana". * ''Beyträge zur gerichtlichen Arzneygelahrheit und zur medicinischen Polizey'', 1782.Most widely held works by Wilhelm Heinrich Sebastian Bucholtz
WorldCat Identities

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bucholz, Wilhelm Heinrich Sebastian 1734 births 1798 deaths People from Bernburg People from Anhalt-Bernburg German pharmacists 18th-century German chemists University of Jena alumni