studies in Uppsala in 1770. In 1773 he defended his pro exercitio thesis fonte
acidulari Dannemarkensi (Chap. 17) under the supervision of Bergman. After his
chemistry studies, he travelled via Lübeck, Hamburg and Hannover to Göttingen,
where he took his M.D. degree in 1779. He continued his travels in Dresden,
Leipzig, Halle, Berlin, Hamburg and Copenhagen and finally returned to Stockholm
in 1780. In 1782, he was appointed provincial physician in Stockholm County. In
1794 he took over his father’s pharmacy which he sold in 1798. He died on April 9,
1829.
11.4.6 Johan Adolf Level
Level, from the Småland province, defended his thesis in pharmacy on antimony
tartrate (Sect. 27.3) in 1773.
11.4.7 Peter Jacob Hjelm
Hjelm [39] was born on October 2, 1746 in Göteryd, in the Swedish province of
Småland. He would be one of the most successful chemists among Bergman’s
students. After 5 years at Växsjö gymnasium he came to Uppsala in 1763. In
December 1771 he defended a thesis in law under professor Christiernin [40]
concerning the ownership of mineral deposits. The thesis contains nothing of
chemical interest. Unlike Gahn, who also defended a thesis under Christiernin
(Sect. 13.1), Hjelm continued his studies under Bergman and presented his thesis
Chemisk och mineralogisk afhandling om hvita järnmalmer (Chemical and Mineralogical Dissertation on White Iron Ores) in 1774. He was not, however,
awarded the master degree [41]. Hjelm left Uppsala for Stockholm in 1774 to take
up a civil servant position at the Board of Mines and to study assaying under Sven
Rinman. He was appointed assayer in 1782 and in 1784 he was elected a member of
the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in Stockholm. In 1794, he succeeded von
Engeström as manager of Laboratorium chymicum, which had been transferred to
the Royal Swedish Mint.
In Uppsala, Hjelm had befriended Scheele, and they would continue to correspond by letters after they both left Uppsala. Hjelm’s most significant chemical
achievement, the isolation of metallic molybdenum (Sect. 15.4) was carried out on
Scheele’s request. His 24 papers in the Transactions of the Royal Academy of
Sciences concern a wide range of subjects with a focus on metallurgy, chemistry
and mineralogy, but his first paper dealt with the population of Uppsala diocese
from 1749 to 1773 [42]. He published two important series of papers on manganese
and molybdenum, translated Bergman’s manual on the blow-pipe to Swedish
(Sect. 23.4) and held the memorial lecture over his master in the Royal Swedish
Academy of Sciences.
Hjelm remained loyal to the phlogiston theory, as can be seen, e.g. in the preface
of his 1796 edition of The Chemical Lectures of H.T. Scheffer. Although
176
11 Bergman as a Teacher
acidulari Dannemarkensi (Chap. 17) under the supervision of Bergman. After his
chemistry studies, he travelled via Lübeck, Hamburg and Hannover to Göttingen,
where he took his M.D. degree in 1779. He continued his travels in Dresden,
Leipzig, Halle, Berlin, Hamburg and Copenhagen and finally returned to Stockholm
in 1780. In 1782, he was appointed provincial physician in Stockholm County. In
1794 he took over his father’s pharmacy which he sold in 1798. He died on April 9,
1829.
11.4.6 Johan Adolf Level
Level, from the Småland province, defended his thesis in pharmacy on antimony
tartrate (Sect. 27.3) in 1773.
11.4.7 Peter Jacob Hjelm
Hjelm [39] was born on October 2, 1746 in Göteryd, in the Swedish province of
Småland. He would be one of the most successful chemists among Bergman’s
students. After 5 years at Växsjö gymnasium he came to Uppsala in 1763. In
December 1771 he defended a thesis in law under professor Christiernin [40]
concerning the ownership of mineral deposits. The thesis contains nothing of
chemical interest. Unlike Gahn, who also defended a thesis under Christiernin
(Sect. 13.1), Hjelm continued his studies under Bergman and presented his thesis
Chemisk och mineralogisk afhandling om hvita järnmalmer (Chemical and Mineralogical Dissertation on White Iron Ores) in 1774. He was not, however,
awarded the master degree [41]. Hjelm left Uppsala for Stockholm in 1774 to take
up a civil servant position at the Board of Mines and to study assaying under Sven
Rinman. He was appointed assayer in 1782 and in 1784 he was elected a member of
the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in Stockholm. In 1794, he succeeded von
Engeström as manager of Laboratorium chymicum, which had been transferred to
the Royal Swedish Mint.
In Uppsala, Hjelm had befriended Scheele, and they would continue to correspond by letters after they both left Uppsala. Hjelm’s most significant chemical
achievement, the isolation of metallic molybdenum (Sect. 15.4) was carried out on
Scheele’s request. His 24 papers in the Transactions of the Royal Academy of
Sciences concern a wide range of subjects with a focus on metallurgy, chemistry
and mineralogy, but his first paper dealt with the population of Uppsala diocese
from 1749 to 1773 [42]. He published two important series of papers on manganese
and molybdenum, translated Bergman’s manual on the blow-pipe to Swedish
(Sect. 23.4) and held the memorial lecture over his master in the Royal Swedish
Academy of Sciences.
Hjelm remained loyal to the phlogiston theory, as can be seen, e.g. in the preface
of his 1796 edition of The Chemical Lectures of H.T. Scheffer. Although
176
11 Bergman as a Teacher