Johann Heinrich Pott (6 October 1692 – 29 March 1777) was a Prussian physician and chemist. He is considered a pioneer of pyrochemistry. He examined the elements

bismuth Bismuth is a chemical element with the symbol Bi and atomic number 83. It is a post-transition metal and one of the pnictogens, with chemical properties resembling its lighter group 15 siblings arsenic and antimony. Elemental bismuth occurs ...

and

manganese Manganese is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Mn and atomic number 25. It is a hard, brittle, silvery metal, often found in minerals in combination with iron. Manganese is a transition metal with a multifaceted array of ...

apart from attempting improvements to glass and

porcelain Porcelain () is a ceramic material made by heating substances, generally including materials such as kaolinite, in a kiln to temperatures between . The strength and translucence of porcelain, relative to other types of pottery, arises main ...

production.

Biography

Pott was born in

Halberstadt Halberstadt ( Eastphalian: ''Halverstidde'') is a town in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt, the capital of Harz district. Located north of the Harz mountain range, it is known for its old town center that was greatly destroyed by Allied bomb ...

, son of the royal councillor Johann Andreas Pott (1662–1729) and Dorothea Sophia daughter of Andreas Machenau. He studied at the cathedral school in Halberstadt and Francke's pedagogium before studying theology at the

University of Halle Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg (german: Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg), also referred to as MLU, is a public, research-oriented university in the cities of Halle and Wittenberg and the largest and oldest university in ...

. He then shifted to study medicine and chemistry under Georg Ernst Stahl. In 1713 he studied assaying at Mansfield under mining master Lages. He spent two years along with two of his brothers as travelling

evangelists Evangelists may refer to: * Evangelists (Christianity), Christians who specialize in evangelism * Four Evangelists, the authors of the four Gospel accounts in the New Testament * ''The Evangelists ''The Evangelists'' (''Evangheliştii'' in Roma ...

for the

Community of True Inspiration The Community of True Inspiration, also known as the True Inspiration Congregations, Inspirationalists, and the Amana Church Society) is a Radical Pietist group of Christians descending from settlers of German, Swiss, and Austrian descent who sett ...

but he left the sect in 1715 and returned to study chemistry at Halle, receiving a doctorate in 1716 on

sulfur Sulfur (or sulphur in British English) is a chemical element with the symbol S and atomic number 16. It is abundant, multivalent and nonmetallic. Under normal conditions, sulfur atoms form cyclic octatomic molecules with a chemical formul ...

under

Friedrich Hoffmann Friedrich Hoffmann or Hofmann (19 February 1660 – 12 November 1742) was a German physician and chemist. He is also sometimes known in English as Frederick Hoffmann. Life His family had been connected with medicine for 200 years before him. Bo ...

. He worked as a physician in Halberstadt before moving to Berlin in 1720 and became a professor of chemistry at the

Collegium Medico Chirurgicum A (plural ), or college, was any association in ancient Rome that acted as a legal entity. Following the passage of the ''Lex Julia'' during the reign of Julius Caesar as Consul and Dictator of the Roman Republic (49–44 BC), and their rea ...

in 1724. Like his mentor Stahl, he was a promoter of the

phlogiston theory The phlogiston theory is a superseded scientific theory that postulated the existence of a fire-like element called phlogiston () contained within combustible bodies and released during combustion. The name comes from the Ancient Greek (''bur ...

. He succeeded

Caspar Neumann Caspar (or Kaspar) Neumann (14 September 1648 – 27 January 1715) was a German professor and clergyman from Breslau with a special scientific interest in mortality rates. Biography Caspar Neuman was born September 14, 1648 in Breslau, to M ...

(1683–1737) as professor of pharmaceutical chemistry. In 1753 he attempted to get his son-in-law

Ernst Gottfried Kurella Ernst is both a surname and a given name, the German, Dutch, and Scandinavian form of Ernest. Notable people with the name include: Surname * Adolf Ernst (1832–1899) German botanist known by the author abbreviation "Ernst" * Anton Ernst (1975-) ...

into a professorship and clashed publicly with

Johann Theodor Eller Johann Theodor Eller (von Brockhausen) (29 November 1689 – 13 September 1760) was a German physician, mineralogist and chemist who served in the Prussian court. Eller followed the beliefs of the day that heat was an element. Lavoisier read his w ...

whose student Brandes took the position. Pott's chemistry contributions included the use of borax and phosphorus beads in analysis. He examined

graphite Graphite () is a crystalline form of the element carbon. It consists of stacked layers of graphene. Graphite occurs naturally and is the most stable form of carbon under standard conditions. Synthetic and natural graphite are consumed on la ...

which he differentiated from the contemporary idea that it was lead. Pott established a porcelain factory in Freienwalde under the orders of Frederick II. He examined the composition of

pyrolusite Pyrolusite is a mineral consisting essentially of manganese dioxide ( Mn O2) and is important as an ore of manganese.. It is a black, amorphous appearing mineral, often with a granular, fibrous, or columnar structure, sometimes forming reniform ...

. Pott married the daughter of businessman Stanislaus Rücker.

Publications

* Exercitationes chymicae (1738) * Collectiones observationum et animadversionum chymicarum, 1739 and 1741 * Lithogeognosia (1746–57)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pott, Johann Heinrich 1692 births 1777 deaths German chemists