August Krönig

August Karl Krönig (20 September 1822 – 5 June 1879) was a German chemist and physicist who published an account of the kinetic theory of gases in 1856, probably after reading a paper by John James Waterston.

Krönig was born in Schildesche, now part of Bielefeld. After completing his Abitur he attended the University of Bonn for three semesters beginning in 1839 studying primarily Oriental languages. In 1840 he changed focus to physics, chemistry and mathematics and transferred to the University of Berlin, where he completed his doctorate in 1845 with a thesis on chromate salts. He then taught at two schools in Berlin, the Realgymnasium in Cölln and the Königliche Realschule attached to the Friedrich-Wilhelms-Gymnasium in Berlin. In 1864 he was given a professorship, but he was forced to retire the same year for reasons of ill health.

In 1851 Krönig self-published the Journal für Physik und physikalische Chemie des Auslandes in vollständigen Übersichten, but only one year of issues appeared. In 1856 he published a paper on the kinetic theory of gases, thereby becoming a pioneer of statistical mechanics and thermodynamics alongside Rudolf Clausius, James Clerk Maxwell and Ludwig Boltzmann. The paper echoes John James Waterston's 1851 paper on the topic, and may be based on it; Clausius' work was sparked by Krönig's paper but emphasised the implication of "equal volumes equal numbers", which Waterston and Krönig merely noted. Krönig also published various writings on science and on philosophy and theology.

He died in Berlin; his remains were reburied in the family grave at the Südwestkirchhof Stahnsdorf, in Stahnsdorf, near Berlin.

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