Who is Andreas Marggraf from On Food and Cooking and what is their importance?

Prussian chemist, Andreas Marggraf, showed that brandy mixed with the white beet would extract the juices in crystal form that were identical to the crystals found in sugar cane in 1747. Although his ideas didn't take hold until 1812, his findings were vital in the development of the sugar-beet factory. Today, nearly thirty percent of all sucrose is beet sugar. Without Marggraf's discovery, many countries would have had to rely on the West Indies for sugar cane.