Johann Friedrich August Göttling (5 June 1753 – 1 September 1809) was a notable German chemist. Gottling developed and sold chemical assay kits and studied processes for extracting sugar from beetsGöttling, Johann Friedrich August
@ NDB/ADB Deutsche Biographie to supplement his meagre university salary. He studied the chemistry of sulphur,

arsenic Arsenic is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol As and atomic number 33. It is a metalloid and one of the pnictogens, and therefore shares many properties with its group 15 neighbors phosphorus and antimony. Arsenic is not ...

phosphorus Phosphorus is a chemical element; it has Chemical symbol, symbol P and atomic number 15. All elemental forms of phosphorus are highly Reactivity (chemistry), reactive and are therefore never found in nature. They can nevertheless be prepared ar ...

, and mercury. He wrote texts on

analytical chemistry Analytical skill, Analytical chemistry studies and uses instruments and methods to Separation process, separate, identify, and Quantification (science), quantify matter. In practice, separation, identification or quantification may constitute t ...

and studied oxidation of organic compounds by

nitric acid Nitric acid is an inorganic compound with the formula . It is a highly corrosive mineral acid. The compound is colorless, but samples tend to acquire a yellow cast over time due to decomposition into nitrogen oxide, oxides of nitrogen. Most com ...

. He was one of the first scientists in Germany to take a stand against the phlogiston hypothesis and be in favor of the new chemistry of Lavoisier.

Biography

He studied

pharmacy Pharmacy is the science and practice of discovering, producing, preparing, dispensing, reviewing and monitoring medications, aiming to ensure the safe, effective, and affordable use of medication, medicines. It is a miscellaneous science as it ...

at Langensalza under Johann Christian Wiegleb, and from 1775 worked at the ''Hofapotheke'' (court pharmacy) in

Weimar Weimar is a city in the state (Germany), German state of Thuringia, in Central Germany (cultural area), Central Germany between Erfurt to the west and Jena to the east, southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg and west of Dresden. Together w ...

. From 1785, Göttling studied

natural sciences Natural science or empirical science is one of the branches of science concerned with the description, understanding and prediction of natural phenomena, based on empirical evidence from observation and experimentation. Mechanisms such as peer ...

at the

University of Göttingen The University of Göttingen, officially the Georg August University of Göttingen (, commonly referred to as Georgia Augusta), is a Public university, public research university in the city of Göttingen, Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1734 ...

. In 1789,

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Johann Wolfgang (von) Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German polymath who is widely regarded as the most influential writer in the German language. His work has had a wide-ranging influence on Western literature, literary, Polit ...

arranged for him to be an associate professor of chemistry and technology at the

University of Jena The University of Jena, officially the Friedrich Schiller University Jena (, abbreviated FSU, shortened form ''Uni Jena''), is a public research university located in Jena, Thuringia, Germany. The university was established in 1558 and is cou ...

. For a period of time, Göttling served as Goethe's primary source for chemical knowledge. He was notably the teacher of Karl Wilhelm Gottlob Kastner.

Selected works

* ''Praktische Vortheile und Verbesserungen verschiedener pharmaceutisch-chemischer Operationen für Apotheker'', 1783. * ''Beytrag, zur Berichtigung der anti-phlogistischen Chemie auf Versuche gegründet'', 1794. * ''Chemische Bemerkungen über das phosphorsaure Quecksilber und Hrn. Hahnemanns schwarzen Quecksilberkalk'', 1795. * ''Handbuch der theoretischen und praktischen Chemie'', 1798–1800 (3 volumes). * ''Elementarbuch der chemischen Experimentirkunst'', 1808–09 (2 volumes). He was also an editor of the journal ''Taschenbuch für Scheidekünstler und Apotheker''.WorldCat Search
published works

References

* K. Hufbauer, ''The Formation of the German Chemical Community'' (1720-1795), University of California Press, 1982, pp. 207–208. * ''Pharmazie,'' 1962, 17, pp. 624–634. * ''Neue Deutsche Biographie'', Duncker & Humblot, 1953-1990, 6, pp. 580–581. * * ''Biographisches Lexikon der hervorragenden Ärzte'', Urban & Schwarzenberg, 1962, 2, p. 787. * ''Dictionnaire des Sciences Medicales Biographie Medicale,'' C. L. F. Panckoucke, 1820-1822, 4, pp. 473–474. {{DEFAULTSORT:Gottling, Johann Friedrich August 1753 births 1809 deaths People from Blankenburg (Harz) 18th-century German chemists University of Göttingen alumni Academic staff of the University of Jena Associates of the Lunar Society of Birmingham 19th-century German chemists Chemists from the Kingdom of Prussia