in 1746 by heating a mixture of calamine and carbon in a closed vessel without copper. He was unaware that the same process had been developed (and patented) by William Champion in England around 1738–1740 and by Anton von Swab in Sweden around 1742. Marggraf however had described the process in great detail and established its basic theory, for which he is often credited with isolation of zinc. This procedure became commercially practical by 1752. References 1709 births 1782 deaths 18th-century German chemists Scientists from Berlin People of the Industrial Revolution People from the Margraviate of Brandenburg Members of the Prussian Academy of Sciences Honorary members of the Saint Petersburg Academy of Sciences 18th-century agronomists