Augustin Gottfried Ludwig Lentin Explained

Augustin G. Lentin
Birth Name:Augustin Gottfried Ludwig Lentin
Birth Date:4 January 1764
Birth Place:Dannenberg
Occupation:Chemist

Augustin Gottfried Ludwig Lentin (January 4, 1764 – January 18, 1823) was a German chemist. He was a lecturer at the University of Göttingen and subsequently inspector of saltworks, and a writer and translator of works on chemistry and metallurgy.

Early life and education

Lentin was born in Dannenberg, Lower Saxony, Germany on 4 January 1764, the son of Lebrecht Friedrich Benjamin Lentin (1736–1804), physician and prolific writer on medical topics. He took the degree of Ph.D. at Georg-August-Universität Göttingen and acted as private lecturer in the same university from 1795 to 1801 where he gave courses on technical chemistry and 'practical economic chemistry'.[1] During this period he translated from English a number of recent publications on chemistry including works by Elizabeth Fulhame, Richard Kirwan and James Keir, and published several books and papers himself on chemical and mining matters.

Metallurgy

During this period he visited Wales where he took a particular interest in the copper industry. He spent some time[2] at Parys Mountain on Anglesey, a major source of copper ore during the second half of the 18th century, and also at the works at Ravenhead and Stanley, both near St Helens, Merseyside, where ore from Parys Mountain was smelted. His findings were described in a publication that appeared in 1800 under the title Briefe über die Insel Anglesea : vorzüglich über das dasige Kupfer-Bergwerk und die dazu gehörigen Schmelzwerke und Fabriken (Leipzig : Crusius, 1800). His style has been described as 'cumbersome and pedantic'[3] but his work still represents a useful source for the historians of technology and in particular of the mining and smelting of copper. An English translation appeared in 2007.[4]

The frequent papers and translations of the 1790s ceased after 1801 following Lentin's appointment as clerk at a saltworks in Rothenfelde, and subsequently in 1817 as salt inspector at Sülbeck and Salzderhelden in the kingdom of Hanover. He also made experiments on the roasting and smelting of ores at Rammelsberg in a large furnace.

Death

He died at Sülbeck, near Eimbeck, on 18 January 1823.[5]

Original works

Translations

Notes and References

  1. Heiner Hegewald, 'Zur Entwicklung der Technischen Chemie im 19. Jahrhundert unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der Chemikerausbildung an der Technischen Hochschule Dresden und ihren Vorgängereinrichtungen' (Dissertation for degree of Dr. Rer. Nat. Martin-Luther-Universitat Halle-Wittenberg, 2005, pp 15–16
  2. Said by one source to have been six years. Web site: Parys Mountain – a special place . Anglesey Mining plc . 2010-01-25 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20100328190550/http://www.angleseymining.co.uk/ParysMountain/HomeParys.htm . 2010-03-28 .
  3. J R Harris, The copper king : a biography of Thomas Williams of Llanidan (Liverpool University Press, 1964), p 170
  4. Parys Mountain and the Lentin letters; original translation by Nancy Rothwell (Amlwch : Amlwch Industrial Heritage Trust, 2007)
  5. John Ferguson, 'Bibliotheca chemica : a catalogue of the alchemical, chemical and pharmaceutical books in the collection of the late James Young of Kelly and Durrisi' (Glasgow : Maclehose, 1905), v. 2, p 26

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