He was a lecturer at the University of Göttingen and subsequently inspector of saltworks, and a writer and translator of works on chemistry and metallurgy.
[1] During this period he translated from English a number of recent publications on chemistry including works by Elizabeth Fulhame, Richard Kirwan and James Keir, and published several books and papers himself on chemical and mining matters.
His findings were described in a publication that appeared in 1800 under the title Briefe über die Insel Anglesea : vorzüglich über das dasige Kupfer-Bergwerk und die dazu gehörigen Schmelzwerke und Fabriken (Leipzig : Crusius, 1800).
His style has been described as 'cumbersome and pedantic'[3] but his work still represents a useful source for the historians of technology and in particular of the mining and smelting of copper.
[4] The frequent papers and translations of the 1790s ceased after 1801 following Lentin's appointment as clerk at a saltworks in Rothenfelde, and subsequently in 1817 as salt inspector at Sülbeck and Salzderhelden in the kingdom of Hanover.