1743-1817

German chemist remembered for his pioneering contributions to analytical chemistry and discovery of new elements. Klaproth deduced the presence of uranium in pitchblende (1789), zirconium in zircon (1789), and titanium in rutile (1795). He confirmed or independently discovered strontium (1793), titanium (1795), chromium (1798), tellurium (1798), and cerium (1803), always being careful to credit the original discoverers. Klaproth also pioneered the chemical analysis of antiquities, and his conversion to Antoine Lavoisier's new chemistry greatly influenced that theory's acceptance in Germany.