Andreas Sigismund Marggraf

<h2 id="life">Life</h2>
Andreas Sigismund Marggraf was the son of the pharmacist Henning Christian Marggraf (1680–1754), who owned a pharmacy in Berlin and lectured at the Collegium Medico-Chirurgicum (medical/surgical school). Marggraf came in contact with the pharmaceutical and medical business early and started studying at the medical school in 1725. He studied with <a href="/facts/Caspar_Neumann_(chemist)/9lrRIWvs">Caspar Neumann</a> in Berlin, visited pharmacies in other cities, including <a href="/facts/Frankfurt_am_Main/Pw4Xj9A4">Frankfurt am Main</a> and <a href="/facts/Strasbourg/MTdQtoPy">Strasbourg</a> and attended lectures at the <a href="/facts/University_of_Halle/DXhaJLhH">University of Halle</a>. He worked in his father's pharmacy and focused his work on chemistry. In later life he helped to reorganize the Societät der Wissenschaften into the Akademie der Wissenschaften (<a href="/facts/Prussian_Academy_of_Science/akJEC3Nc">Prussian Academy of Science</a>) and became the director of the physics section in 1760.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:3" href="#fn:3">3</a> In 1774 he had a <a href="/facts/Stroke/DwpjdzY0">stroke</a>, and continued working at the laboratories of the Akademie until his retirement in 1781.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:4" href="#fn:4">4</a>

<h2 id="scientific-work">Scientific work</h2>
Marggraf introduced several new methods into experimental chemistry. He used <a href="/facts/Precipitation_(chemistry)/s3BgsLLY">precipitation</a> methods for analysis, such as the <a href="/facts/Prussian_blue/IV0VooPH">Prussian blue</a> reaction for the detection of <a href="/facts/Iron/DkICCKIC">iron</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:5" href="#fn:5">5</a> Marggraf's major work in inorganic chemistry included the improved production of <a href="/facts/Phosphorus/27xCeIqs">phosphorus</a> from <a href="/facts/Urine/oNUYVtvX">urine</a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:6" href="#fn:6">6</a> and the detection of <a href="/facts/Alkali_metal/IkWbCLk2">alkali metal</a> salts in plant ash and their identification by flame test.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:7" href="#fn:7">7</a> Before his 1762 work, (al)chemists didn't systematically distinguish between potassium and sodium salts.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:8" href="#fn:8">8</a>
His extraction of <a href="/facts/Sugar/jb5KXRHT">sugar</a> from <a href="/facts/Beet/RkzMBNlM">beets</a>, which was then only available from <a href="/facts/Sugarcane/925qszH4">sugarcane</a>, was the starting point for the <a href="/facts/Sugar_industry/rvRmVQk4">sugar industry</a> in Europe,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:9" href="#fn:9">9</a> and the modern sugar industry in the world.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:10" href="#fn:10">10</a> Although Marggraf recognized the economic impact of his discovery, he did not pursue it. Marggraf's student <a href="/facts/Franz_Carl_Achard/PMBha6y0">Franz Achard</a>, completed the work and developed an economic extraction method for sugar from <a href="/facts/Sugar_beet/Rzcof5lb">sugar beet</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:11" href="#fn:11">11</a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:12" href="#fn:12">12</a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:13" href="#fn:13">13</a> Other students of Marggraf included <a href="/facts/Johann_Gottlob_Lehmann_(scientist)/V9NIQIJy">Johann Gottlob Lehmann</a>, <a href="/facts/Franz_Carl_Achard/PMBha6y0">Franz Carl Achard</a> and probably <a href="/facts/Valentin_Rose_the_Elder/b26aRKYr">Valentin Rose the Elder</a> and <a href="/facts/Martin_Heinrich_Klaproth/5DAt7l6Q">Martin Heinrich Klaproth</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:14" href="#fn:14">14</a> He was the first to isolate <a href="/facts/Glucose/oUSkoLCD">glucose</a> from <a href="/facts/Raisin/b7brgfDT">raisins</a> in 1747.

<h3>Isolation of zinc</h3>
See also: <a href="/facts/Zinc/80b1qgk3">Zinc § Isolation</a>, and <a href="/facts/William_Champion_(metallurgist)/G9gBhJnV">William Champion (metallurgist)</a>
Marggraf had isolated zinc in 1746 by heating a mixture of <a href="/facts/Calamine/vnqzNxCU">calamine</a> and <a href="/facts/Carbon/ukrgQexo">carbon</a> in a closed vessel without copper. He was unaware that the same process had been developed (and patented) by <a href="/facts/William_Champion_(metallurgist)/G9gBhJnV">William Champion</a> in England around 1738–1740 and by Anton von Swab in Sweden around 1742. However, Marggraf described the process in great detail and established its basic theory, for which he is often credited with isolation of zinc.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:15" href="#fn:15">15</a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:16" href="#fn:16">16</a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:17" href="#fn:17">17</a> This procedure became commercially practical by 1752.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:18" href="#fn:18">18</a>

<ul><li><a href="/facts/Hugh_Chisholm/2vWblUBe">Chisholm, Hugh</a>, ed. (1911). <a href="https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/1911_Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica/Marggraf,_Andreas_Sigismund">"Marggraf, Andreas Sigismund" </a>. <a href="/facts/Encyclop%25C3%25A6dia_Britannica_Eleventh_Edition/mPElbCRY">Encyclopædia Britannica</a>. Vol. 17 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 705.</li></ul>

<h2 id="references">References</h2>

<ol>
<li id="fn:1">Marggraf (1746) "Experiences sur la maniere de tirer le Zinc de sa veritable miniere, c’est à dire, de la pierre calaminaire" [Experiments on a way of extracting zinc from its true mineral; i.e., the stone calamine], Histoire de l'Académie Royale des Sciences et Belles-Lettres de Berlin, pages 49-57. <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=0w8_AAAAYAAJ&pg=PA49" target="_blank">https://books.google.com/books?id=0w8_AAAAYAAJ&pg=PA49</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:2">Marggraf (1747) "Experiences chimiques faites dans le dessein de tirer un veritable sucre de diverses plantes, qui croissent dans nos contrées" [Chemical experiments made with the intention of extracting real sugar from diverse plants that grow in our lands], Histoire de l'académie royale des sciences et belles-lettres de Berlin, pages 79-90. <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=lJQDAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA79" target="_blank">https://books.google.com/books?id=lJQDAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA79</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:3">Chisholm 1911. - Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Marggraf, Andreas Sigismund" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 17 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 705. <a href="https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/1911_Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica/Marggraf,_Andreas_Sigismund" target="_blank">https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/1911_Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica/Marggraf,_Andreas_Sigismund</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:4">Engel, Michael (1990). "Marggraf, Andreas Sigismund". Neue Deutsche Biographie (in German). Vol. 16. Berlin: Duncker & Humblot. pp. 165–167. <a href="https://daten.digitale-sammlungen.de/0001/bsb00016334/images/index.html?seite=177" target="_blank">https://daten.digitale-sammlungen.de/0001/bsb00016334/images/index.html?seite=177</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:5">Marggraf (1751) "Examen chymique de l'eau" [Chemical examination of water], Histoire de l'Académie Royale des Sciences et Belles-Lettres, pages 131-157; see especially pages 152-153. <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=xlJFAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA131" target="_blank">https://books.google.com/books?id=xlJFAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA131</a> <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:6">Andreæ Sigismundi Margraf (1743) "Nonnullae novae metodi Phosphorum solidum tam ex urina facilius conficiendi, quam etiam eundem prontissime et purissime ex phlogisto et singolari quodam ex urina separato sale componendi," [Some new methods of easily preparing solid phosphorus from urine, and making the same [i.e., phosphorus] as quickly and pure as possible from phlogiston and a particular salt extracted from urine] Miscellanea Berolinensia ad incrementum scientiarum, ex scriptis Societati Regiae Scientiarum exhibitis [Berlin miscellany for the increase of knowledge, from the published writings of the Royal Society of Science], vol. 7, pages 324-344. Reprinted (in part) in German as: Andreas Sigismund Marggraf (1785) "Verschiedene neue Arten, den Harnphosphorus leichter zu verfertigen, und ihn sehr geschwind aus Phlogiston und einem besondern Harnsalze zusammenzusetzen" [Various new ways to produce more easily phosphorus from urine, and to make it very quickly from phlogiston and a particular salt of urine], Crelle's Neues Chemisches Archiv, vol. 3, pages 300-303.
Marggraf's new method of producing phosphorus was to add lead chloride ("Hornbley" or "horn lead") to concentrated urine. Lead phosphate would then precipitate. The precipitate was filtered and rinsed, and then mixed with carbon and heated in a retort. Phosphorus would then form in the retort and sublimate in the retort's receiver. <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=PlRFAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA324" target="_blank">https://books.google.com/books?id=PlRFAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA324</a> <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:7">Marggraf, Opuscules Chymiques de M. Margraf (Paris, France: Philippe Vincent, 1762), vol. 2, "XXV. Dissertation: Preuves qui démontrent que la partie alcaline séparée du sel de cuisine, est un sel alcali véritable, & non une terre alcaline" [Proofs that demonstrate that the alkaline part separated from cooking salt is a true alkaline salt and not an alkaline earth], pages 375-420; see especially page 386: Marggraf describes the distinguishing charactertistics of sodium nitrate and potassium nitrate, including the color of the flames when those salts burn: Original text : La flamme du premier est jaune; celle du second, bleuâtre.Translation : The flame of the first [sodium nitrate] is yellow; that of the second [potassium nitrate], bluish. <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=BzPsgxBV_g4C&pg=PA386" target="_blank">https://books.google.com/books?id=BzPsgxBV_g4C&pg=PA386</a> <a href="#fnref:7" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:8">Mellor, Joseph William (1922). Supplement to Mellor's Comprehensive Treatise on Inorganic and Theoretical Chemistry: suppl. 3. K, Rb, Cs, Fr. Longmans, Green and Company. <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=8w1GAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA522" target="_blank">https://books.google.com/books?id=8w1GAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA522</a> <a href="#fnref:8" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:9">Larousse Gastronomique. Éditions Larousse. 13 October 2009. p. 1152. ISBN 9780600620426. <a href="9780600620426" target="_blank">9780600620426</a> <a href="#fnref:9" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:10">"Andreas Sigismund Marggraf | German chemist". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 29 March 2020. <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Andreas-Sigismund-Marggraf" target="_blank">https://www.britannica.com/biography/Andreas-Sigismund-Marggraf</a> <a href="#fnref:10" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:11">Engel, Michael (1990). "Marggraf, Andreas Sigismund". Neue Deutsche Biographie (in German). Vol. 16. Berlin: Duncker & Humblot. pp. 165–167. <a href="https://daten.digitale-sammlungen.de/0001/bsb00016334/images/index.html?seite=177" target="_blank">https://daten.digitale-sammlungen.de/0001/bsb00016334/images/index.html?seite=177</a> <a href="#fnref:11" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:12">Friedrich, Christoph. "Begründer der Zuckerindustrie". Pharmazeutische Zeitung. Retrieved 2010-01-12. <a href="http://www.pharmazeutische-zeitung.de/index.php?id=29229" target="_blank">http://www.pharmazeutische-zeitung.de/index.php?id=29229</a> <a href="#fnref:12" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:13">Wolff, G. (1953). "Franz Karl Achard, 1753-1821; a contribution of the cultural history of sugar". Medizinische Monatsschrift. 7 (4): 253–4. PMID 13086516. <a href="/wiki/Medizinische_Monatsschrift_f%C3%BCr_Pharmazeuten" target="_blank">/wiki/Medizinische_Monatsschrift_f%C3%BCr_Pharmazeuten</a> <a href="#fnref:13" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:14">Engel, Michael (1990). "Marggraf, Andreas Sigismund". Neue Deutsche Biographie (in German). Vol. 16. Berlin: Duncker & Humblot. pp. 165–167. <a href="https://daten.digitale-sammlungen.de/0001/bsb00016334/images/index.html?seite=177" target="_blank">https://daten.digitale-sammlungen.de/0001/bsb00016334/images/index.html?seite=177</a> <a href="#fnref:14" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:15">Gray, Leon (2005). Zinc. Marshall Cavendish. p. 9. ISBN 0-7614-1922-5. <a href="0-7614-1922-5" target="_blank">0-7614-1922-5</a> <a href="#fnref:15" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:16">Habashi, Fathi. "Discovering the 8th Metal" (PDF). International Zinc Association (IZA). Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 December 2008. Retrieved 2008-12-13. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20081209091621/http://www.iza.com/Documents/Communications/Publications/History.pdf" target="_blank">https://web.archive.org/web/20081209091621/http://www.iza.com/Documents/Communications/Publications/History.pdf</a> <a href="#fnref:16" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:17">Weeks, Mary Elvira (1933). "III. Some Eighteenth-Century Metals". The Discovery of the Elements. Easton, PA: Journal of Chemical Education. p. 21. ISBN 0-7661-3872-0. {{cite book}}: ISBN / Date incompatibility (help) <a href="0-7661-3872-0" target="_blank">0-7661-3872-0</a> <a href="#fnref:17" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:18">Heiserman, David L. (1992). "Element 30: Zinc". Exploring Chemical Elements and their Compounds. New York: TAB Books. p. 122. ISBN 0-8306-3018-X. <a href="0-8306-3018-X" target="_blank">0-8306-3018-X</a> <a href="#fnref:18" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
</ol>

Andreas Sigismund Marggraf open-in-new

Andreas Sigismund Marggraf