Karl Fischer (24 March 1901 – 16 April 1958) was a German

chemist A chemist (from Greek ''chēm(ía)'' alchemy; replacing ''chymist'' from Medieval Latin ''alchemist'') is a graduated scientist trained in the study of chemistry, or an officially enrolled student in the field. Chemists study the composition of ...

. In 1935 he published a method to determine trace amounts of water in samples. This method is now called

Karl Fischer titration In analytical chemistry, Karl Fischer titration is a classic titration method that uses coulometric or volumetric titration to determine trace amounts of water in a sample. It was invented in 1935 by the German chemist Karl Fischer. Today, the ...

and was originally performed manually but has been automated. It remains the primary method of water content determination used worldwide by government, academia and industry laboratories, including all major chemical manufacturers, refrigerant producers, and petroleum refiners.

References

1901 births 1958 deaths 20th-century German chemists Scientists from Munich {{Germany-chemist-stub