Johann Rudolf Glauber

Johann Rudolf Glauber was born on 10 March 1604, working in an era when the line between alchemist and chemist was still blurred. In 1625 he isolated sodium sulfate, a compound that would be named Glauber's salt in his honor. His approach to chemistry — practical, process-oriented — led some historians to label him among the first chemical engineers, a forerunner who saw the craft as more than transmutation. He died on 16 March 1670, leaving a name attached to a mineral and a claim on the profession's early scaffolding.