1762-1807

German chemist famous for formulating Richter's rule: elements combine in fixed proportions to form compounds (1795). These proportions were later explained by John Dalton's atomic theory as relative molecular weights. Richter was obsessed with the mathematization of nature, believing it particularly relevant to chemistry, which is fundamentally concerned with determining the exact proportions of constituents present in compounds. He used the term "stoichiometry" to define the science of measuring the elements.