Who is Justus von Liebig from On Food and Cooking and what is their importance?

German chemist, Justus von Liebig, came up with the idea of searing meat to seal in juices around 1850. Although his reasoning for this method was later disproved, Liebig's idea spread like wildfire after the publication of his theory in his book "Researches on the Chemistry of Food." Liebig also stated that the "nutritious" water-soluble compounds in meat could be retained by heating the meat quickly over a high heat to seal in the juices. While his beliefs were incorrect, Liebig did introduce the idea of searing, which adds immense flavor and the products of browning reactions. Incidentally, this same misconception by Liebig pushed him to invent meat extracts, which are still in use today.