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Jean S. Stas

Scientist Datebook:  August 21

Belgian Analytical Chemist


Jean Servais Stas was born August 21, 1813. He is known for his accurate determination of atomic weights, a most skillful chemical analyst of the 19th century.

Stas was born in Leuven. Initially, he trained as a physician but later changed to chemistry and worked at the Polytechnic School in Paris under Jean-Baptiste Dumas. The two of them setup the atomic weight of carbon by weighing a sample of the pure material, burned it in pure oxygen, then weighed the carbon dioxide produced.