August Karl Krönig (German: [ˈkʁøːnɪç]; 20 September 1822 – 5 June 1879) was a German chemist and physicist who published an account of the kinetic theory of gases in 1856, probably after reading a paper by John James Waterston.
After completing his Abitur he attended the University of Bonn for three semesters beginning in 1839 studying primarily Oriental languages.
In 1840 he changed focus to physics, chemistry and mathematics and transferred to the University of Berlin, where he completed his doctorate in 1845 with a thesis on chromate salts.
In 1851 Krönig self-published the Journal für Physik und physikalische Chemie des Auslandes in vollständigen Übersichten, but only one year of issues appeared.
In 1856 he published a paper on the kinetic theory of gases, thereby becoming a pioneer of statistical mechanics and thermodynamics alongside Rudolf Clausius, James Clerk Maxwell and Ludwig Boltzmann.