Auer, Karl

19th Century
Born: Vienna (Austria), 1858
Died: Welsbach Castle (Carinthia), 1929
Auer studied in Heidelberg under Bunsen. There he grew interested in rare earths. He isolated praseodymium and neodymium. In 1885 he patented a new method of gas lighting, he improved Edison’s lamp by introducing a metallic filament and finally he found a new metallic mixture to produce sparks, its most common use is as flints in cigarette lighters.