Background
Karl Wilhelm Scheele was born on Dec. 9, 1742, at Stralsund in Swedish Pomerania.
(Carl Wilhelm Scheele (1742-1786) was a German-Swedish pha...)
Carl Wilhelm Scheele (1742-1786) was a German-Swedish pharmaceutical chemist, born in Stralsund, Western Pomerania, Germany. Instead of becoming a carpenter like his father, Scheele decided to become a pharmacist. His career began with his apprenticeship at an apothecary in Gothenburg when he was only fourteen years old. He retained this position for eight years before becoming an apothecary's clerk in Malmö. Then Scheele worked as a pharmacist in Stockholm, from 1770-1775 in Uppsala, and later in Köping. In 1776, he was able to establish his own pharmacy. He was the discoverer of many chemical substances, most notably discovering oxygen (although Joseph Priestley published his findings first), molybdenum and chlorine before Humphry Davy. Scheele described the discovery of oxygen and nitrogen (1772-1773), in his only book, Chemische Abhandlung von der Luft und dem Feuer (Chemical Treatise on Air and Fire) in 1777. He called it "fire air" because it supported combustion, but he explained oxygen using phlogistical terms because he did not believe that his discovery disproved the phlogiston theory.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1409937739/?tag=2022091-20
(Dieser Buchtitel ist Teil des Digitalisierungsprojekts Sp...)
Dieser Buchtitel ist Teil des Digitalisierungsprojekts Springer Book Archives mit Publikationen, die seit den Anfängen des Verlags von 1842 erschienen sind. Der Verlag stellt mit diesem Archiv Quellen für die historische wie auch die disziplingeschichtliche Forschung zur Verfügung, die jeweils im historischen Kontext betrachtet werden müssen. Dieser Titel erschien in der Zeit vor 1945 und wird daher in seiner zeittypischen politisch-ideologischen Ausrichtung vom Verlag nicht beworben.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/366235845X/?tag=2022091-20
(This book was digitized and reprinted from the collection...)
This book was digitized and reprinted from the collections of the University of California Libraries. It was produced from digital images created through the libraries mass digitization efforts. The digital images were cleaned and prepared for printing through automated processes. Despite the cleaning process, occasional flaws may still be present that were part of the original work itself, or introduced during digitization. This book and hundreds of thousands of others can be found online in the HathiTrust Digital Library at www.hathitrust.org.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00672CDCS/?tag=2022091-20
(Excerpt from The Early History of Chlorine The first pap...)
Excerpt from The Early History of Chlorine The first paper contains Scheele's description of the discovery of chlorine, made accidentally when he was investigating the properties of Brunsten (black oxide of manganese). It is interesting to note, not only his clear and wonderfully correct views as to the nature of the substance, but also, the very full description of it which he gives in a small space. In' marked contrast to the preceding one is the long paper by Berthollet, in which, carried away by his zeal for Lavoisier's doctrines, he propounds the view that chlorine is the higher oxide of an as yet unknown radical. This view, although founded so loosely, obtained general adoption, and became so firmly rooted that it was only given up after one of the fiercest controversies connected with the science. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1330729889/?tag=2022091-20
(Excerpt from Chemische Abhandlung von der Luft und dem Fe...)
Excerpt from Chemische Abhandlung von der Luft und dem Feuer Die Untersuchung der Luft ist jetziger Zeit ein wich tiger Gegenstand der Chemie. Es ist auch dieses elastische Flnidnm mit so vielen besondern Eigenschaften begabet, dass es demjenigen, so Hand an solche Versuche leg-et, Stoff genug zu neuen Entdeckungen darbiethen kann. Das wunderbare Feuer. dieses Produkt der Chemie. zeiget uns, dass solches ohne Luft nicht kann erzeuget werden, und sollte ich wohl fehlen, wenn ich in dieser Abhandl11ng, welche nur als ein Versuch einer chemischen Fenerlehre anzusehen, mir unter nommen Beweise anzuführen, dass eine in unsere Atmosphäre vorhandene Luft als ein wahrer Bestandtheil des Feuers zu betrachten sey, und demnach materialiter zu der Flamme contribuire, deswegen ich auch solche Luft die Feuerluft ge nennet habe? Gewiss, ich werde nicht so ver-wegen seyn, und dieses meinen Lesern zu glauben aufdrmgenu Nein, es sind deutliche Versuche, welche fiir die Sache reden, Versuche, velche ich mehr als nur einmal 8 angestellet, und in welchen eh meine Absicht, das Feuer so deutlich als nur möglich kennen zu lernen. wo ich nicht fehle, nahe genug erreichet habe, und dieses ist der Lohn, den ich fiir meine Arbeit er halten, und welcher mir ein rechtes Vergnügen verursacshet, so ich unmöglich fiir mich allein behalten kann. Dieses ist auch die Absicht und keine andere, warum ich meinen Lesern diese Arbeit bekannt mache. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1332636489/?tag=2022091-20
Karl Wilhelm Scheele was born on Dec. 9, 1742, at Stralsund in Swedish Pomerania.
His formal education ended at age 14, when he was apprenticed to a pharmacist in Gothenburg. In this shop Scheele's scientific education began. Here was at hand a treasury of chemical materials and apparatus which excited the curiosity and latent talents of the young apprentice. In addition, he had access to his master's library, which included many of the most noteworthy chemical works of the 18th century.
Following 8 years' apprenticeship in Gothenburg, Scheele moved to Malmö as an apothecary clerk. Again he was fortunate in his master, who allowed him facilities and time for research. In Malmö, Scheele's talents received their first recognition in the person of Anders Johan Retzius, who was later to become professor of chemistry and natural history at the University of Lund. Retzius encouraged Scheele to keep a systematic record of his researches and brought his name to public attention in a paper on tartaric acid published in 1770 in the memoirs of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.
Spurred by Retzius's encouragement, Scheele decided to seek employment closer to the intellectual and scientific centers of Sweden. From 1768 to 1770 he was an apothecary clerk in Stockholm and from 1770 to 1775 held a similar position in a pharmacy in Uppsala. He earned a leading position among the savants and university professors who formed the very notable elite of Swedish science at this time.
The bulk of Scheele's scientific work was published between 1770 and 1786 in the memoirs of the Swedish Academy of Sciences. He was also the author of one book, the famous Chemical Treatise on Air and Fire (1777). His researches cover such a broad range of topics that one can pinpoint only the highlights.
In the realm of inorganic chemistry Scheele's first important discoveries were made in 1774 in connection with a study of pyrolusite (manganese dioxide). He also discovered a new earth (baryta, or barium oxide) associated with pyrolusite. But the most important outcome of his researches on pyrolusite was his discovery of chlorine. This he prepared by heating a solution of pyrolusite in acid of salt (hydrochloric acid). He collected the greenish-yellow gas in a bladder and studied its highly reactive properties and noted its bleaching action. He thought this gas was acid of salt deprived of its phlogiston, and hence he called it dephlogisticated acid of salt.
In the realm of organic chemistry Scheele is noted for his isolation of a large number of organic acids derived from a variety of vegetables, fruits, and other sources. These included citric acid (from lemons), oxalic acid (from sorrel and rhubarb), malic acid (from apples and other fruits), gallic acid (from nut galls), lactic acid (from milk), and uric acid (from urine). These were among the first organic substances obtained in a chemically pure and well-identified form. Scheele has thus good claim to be considered the founder of modern organic chemistry.
Scheele's greatest claim to fame, however, rests on his discovery of oxygen. He performed his experiments on oxygen sometime between 1770 and 1773, but they were not published until 1777 in his Chemical Treatise on Air and Fire, by which time Joseph Priestley had published his independent discovery of the gas (1775). In this book Scheele first proved that common air was composed of two components: "spoiled, " or "foul, " air and "fire" air (oxygen). The latter was named fire air because only it will support combustion and it is therefore necessary for the production of fire. He prepared this fire air by heating a mixture of nitric and sulfuric acid in a retort and collecting the gas in a bladder attached to the neck. He also prepared the fire air by heating mercuric oxide (Priestley's method) and mixtures of manganese dioxide and sulfuric and phosphoric acids.
In 1775 Scheele was admitted to the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences—perhaps the only apothecary's assistant to be so honored. This same year he also achieved his lifelong ambition: his own pharmacy in the small town of Köping. Although the time he could devote to his scientific research was reduced, he continued to work in a makeshift wooden laboratory behind the shop, and he produced some of the researches described above. By 1782 he had prospered sufficiently to build himself a new house and laboratory. He did not enjoy this newfound prosperity for long, however, for he died on May 26, 1786.
(Excerpt from The Early History of Chlorine The first pap...)
(Dieser Buchtitel ist Teil des Digitalisierungsprojekts Sp...)
(Excerpt from Chemische Abhandlung von der Luft und dem Fe...)
(Carl Wilhelm Scheele (1742-1786) was a German-Swedish pha...)
(This book was digitized and reprinted from the collection...)
Quotations:
"To explain new phenomena, that is my task; and how happy is the scientist when he finds what he so diligently sought, a pleasure that gladdens the heart. "
"Neue Phaenomena zu erklären, dieses macht meine Sorgen aus, und wie froh ist der Forscher, wenn er das so fleissig Gesuche findet, eine Ergötzung wobei das Herz lacht. "
In 1774 Scheele was nominated by Peter Jonas Bergius to be a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences and was elected February 4, 1775.
In the fall of 1785, Scheele began to suffer from symptoms described as kidney disease. In early 1786, he also contracted a disease of the skin, which, combined with kidney problems, so enfeebled him that he could foresee an early death. With this in mind, he married the widow of his predecessor, Pohl, two days before he died, so that he could pass undisputed title to his pharmacy and his possessions to her.