11
Bergman as a Teacher
A large part of Bergman’s time was taken up by teaching (Fig. 11.1), and it appears
that he was a devoted and appreciated teacher. In early 1769, he was teaching
assaying, the art of analysing minerals, to a class of 15 students [1]. The classes
took place at 2 p.m. on Wednesdays and Saturdays, but were usually not finished
until 11 or 12 p.m. This was a test for Bergman, whose health was not strong:
I had to be constantly present, since so many youngsters left by themselves, would soon
have taken up other amusements than those intended. On top of this, half of the laboratory
had stone floor, since several youngsters should learn how to use the power of fire, and the
house would otherwise soon have been on fire: we know that caution is not the character of
that [young] age. In addition, there had to be a strong draught in the room in order to
maintain strong and brisk fire. On top of this an extreme cold set in February and March.
All these circumstances meant that after each lesson, I was so chilled that after getting to
bed I could not get warm and fall to sleep until 4 a.m. in the morning.
As there is a continuous series of temperature measurements from Uppsala
dating back to 1722, Bergman’s claims are easily verified. In late January to
early March 1769, there were several cold days. On Wednesday February 1, the
temperature was −18 °C, and the following Saturday the temperature was −11 °C.
Next Wednesday, the temperature had risen to +1 °C, but was back down at −15 °C
the following Saturday.
11.1 Bergman’s Edition of the Chemical Lectures
of H.T. Scheffer
As already mentioned (Sect. 9.6), Bergman needed a textbook for his lectures, and
he was not inclined to use the material that Wallerius had written. In 1751,
Wallerius published a 32-page long introduction to chemistry called Letter, on the
true nature, benefit and value of chemistry, [2] with a second extended edition in
1767. Wallerius also wrote an extensive textbook in Swedish, Chemia Physica,
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
A. Lennartson, Carl Wilhelm Scheele and Torbern Bergman, Perspectives on the
History of Chemistry, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-49194-9_11
159
Bergman as a Teacher
A large part of Bergman’s time was taken up by teaching (Fig. 11.1), and it appears
that he was a devoted and appreciated teacher. In early 1769, he was teaching
assaying, the art of analysing minerals, to a class of 15 students [1]. The classes
took place at 2 p.m. on Wednesdays and Saturdays, but were usually not finished
until 11 or 12 p.m. This was a test for Bergman, whose health was not strong:
I had to be constantly present, since so many youngsters left by themselves, would soon
have taken up other amusements than those intended. On top of this, half of the laboratory
had stone floor, since several youngsters should learn how to use the power of fire, and the
house would otherwise soon have been on fire: we know that caution is not the character of
that [young] age. In addition, there had to be a strong draught in the room in order to
maintain strong and brisk fire. On top of this an extreme cold set in February and March.
All these circumstances meant that after each lesson, I was so chilled that after getting to
bed I could not get warm and fall to sleep until 4 a.m. in the morning.
As there is a continuous series of temperature measurements from Uppsala
dating back to 1722, Bergman’s claims are easily verified. In late January to
early March 1769, there were several cold days. On Wednesday February 1, the
temperature was −18 °C, and the following Saturday the temperature was −11 °C.
Next Wednesday, the temperature had risen to +1 °C, but was back down at −15 °C
the following Saturday.
11.1 Bergman’s Edition of the Chemical Lectures
of H.T. Scheffer
As already mentioned (Sect. 9.6), Bergman needed a textbook for his lectures, and
he was not inclined to use the material that Wallerius had written. In 1751,
Wallerius published a 32-page long introduction to chemistry called Letter, on the
true nature, benefit and value of chemistry, [2] with a second extended edition in
1767. Wallerius also wrote an extensive textbook in Swedish, Chemia Physica,
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
A. Lennartson, Carl Wilhelm Scheele and Torbern Bergman, Perspectives on the
History of Chemistry, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-49194-9_11
159