Carl Wilhelm Scheele

Carl Wilhelm Scheele (December 9,1742 - May 21, 1786) a Swedish chemist, born in Stralsund, Pomerania, Germany (back then a Swedish province), was the discoverer of many chemical substances, most notably discovering oxygen before Joseph Priestley and chlorine before Humphry Davy.

Scheele worked as a pharmacist in Stockholm, from 1770 to 1775 in Uppsala, and later in Köping. His studies led him to the discovery of oxygen and nitrogen in 1772-1773, which he published in his only book, Chemische Abhandlung von der Luft und dem Feuer (Chemical Treatise on Air and Fire) in 1777, losing some fame to Joseph Priestley, who independently discovered oxygen in 1774.

In his book, he also distinguished heat transfer by thermal radiation from that by convection or conduction.

Scheele also discovered other chemical elements such as barium (1774), chlorine (1774), manganese (1774), molybdenum (1778), and tungsten (1781), as well as several chemical compounds, including citric acid, glycerol, hydrogen cyanide (also known, in aqueous solution, as prussic acid), hydrogen fluoride, and hydrogen sulfide. In addition, he discovered a process similar to pasteurization, along with a means of mass-producing phosphorus, leading Sweden to become one of the worlds leading producers of matches.

Like many other chemists of his time, Scheele often worked under difficult and even dangerous conditions. Also, he had a habit of tasting chemicals that he found. It appears that this was the cause of his premature death at the age of 43; his death symptoms resemble mercury poisoning.

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1742 births | 1786 deaths | Swedish chemists | Natives of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania | Discoverers of chemical elements

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