author

John Emery Bucher

1872–1943

Best remembered for a single surviving scientific work, this early American chemist wrote a detailed study on how researchers measured the atomic weight of cadmium. His career is lightly documented today, which gives his book the feel of a rare glimpse into late 19th-century laboratory science.

1 Audiobook

An examination of some methods employed in determining the atomic weight of Cadmium

An examination of some methods employed in determining the atomic weight of Cadmium

by John Emery Bucher

About the author

Born in Hanover, Pennsylvania, on August 17, 1872, John Emery Bucher was an American chemist. Available records identify him as the son of Jacob F. Bucher and Elizabeth Emery Bucher.

The work most clearly linked to him today is An examination of some methods employed in determining the atomic weight of Cadmium, a late 19th-century study that was published in 1895 and has been preserved by libraries and public-domain archives. The Mathematics Genealogy Project also lists a John Emery Bucher who earned a Ph.D. at Johns Hopkins University in 1894 under chemist Harmon Northrop Morse; while this appears to match the author, that identification is best treated with a little caution because surviving biographical details are sparse.

Although he is not widely remembered in modern reference works, Bucher stands as one of the many specialized scientific writers whose careful research helped build the foundations of modern chemistry. Even the limited record that remains suggests a life shaped by close, methodical laboratory work rather than public literary fame.