a footnote to his paper on fluorite the following year [12]. In 1774 the editor of Nya
Lärda Tidningar published an excerpt from a letter written by Scheele giving a
detailed account of the process [11]. Gahn’s brother Henric published an account in
a Scottish medical journal in 1775, which also appeared in German translation in
1776. During the following years, the refinement of the process received much
international attention [13]. Usually, Scheele was credited for the discovery, while
Gahn’s contribution was unknown to most chemists. Berzelius was among the first
to give Gahn proper credit [14].
13.3 Scheele Meets Bergman
Gahn tried to persuade Scheele to contact Bergman, but apparently Scheele was
initially reluctant to do so. It should be kept in mind that the hierarchy of the
eighteenth century made it difficult for a simple apothecary apprentice to seek
contact with a professor. Also, Bergman’s rejection of Scheele’s papers is believed
to have contributed to Scheele’s reluctance. In a letter to Gahn, who had left
Uppsala, dated August 6, Scheele wrote that Bergman had not yet returned from his
summer vacation, but that he was expected to return within 10 days. In a letter from
Gahn to Bergman dated August 16, Gahn had heard from his brother that Bergman
had returned to Uppsala from Mariestad [15]. Scheele is believed to have visited
Bergman soon after his return.
It was two rather young men that met; Scheele was 27 and Bergman 35. When it
came to chemistry, there is no doubt that Scheele was the more experienced of the
two, while Bergman had the broad academic training and was a talented writer. An
indication of how fast their friendship developed is the fact that Scheele appears to
have acted as Bergman’s assistant when he was visited by Crown Prince Gustav
and Prince Heinrich of Prussia in September (Sect. 13.6). Perhaps Bergman, who
had taken all measures to make a good impression, did not trust his laboratory
assistants, Tidström and Wibom, who were probably still loyal to Wallerius.
13.4 Scheele’s First Papers
After Scheele had befriended Bergman, his situation changed dramatically, and he
had no more problems publishing his results in the Transaction of the Royal Swedish
Academy of Sciences. His first papers were submitted directly to Bergman, who read
them through before sending them to the Academy. To what extent Bergman may
have edited Scheele’s early papers cannot be determined. The first paper published
by Scheele [12] was an investigation on the mineral fluorite (fluorspar; CaF 2 ), which
included the highly controversial discovery of hydrofluoric acid (Sect. 14.1) [16].
The investigation of fluorite may have been carried out on his own initiative, while
the topic for his second paper, the mineral pyrolusite (MnO 2 ; Sect. 15.1), was
13.2 The Collaboration of Scheele and Gahn
199
Lärda Tidningar published an excerpt from a letter written by Scheele giving a
detailed account of the process [11]. Gahn’s brother Henric published an account in
a Scottish medical journal in 1775, which also appeared in German translation in
1776. During the following years, the refinement of the process received much
international attention [13]. Usually, Scheele was credited for the discovery, while
Gahn’s contribution was unknown to most chemists. Berzelius was among the first
to give Gahn proper credit [14].
13.3 Scheele Meets Bergman
Gahn tried to persuade Scheele to contact Bergman, but apparently Scheele was
initially reluctant to do so. It should be kept in mind that the hierarchy of the
eighteenth century made it difficult for a simple apothecary apprentice to seek
contact with a professor. Also, Bergman’s rejection of Scheele’s papers is believed
to have contributed to Scheele’s reluctance. In a letter to Gahn, who had left
Uppsala, dated August 6, Scheele wrote that Bergman had not yet returned from his
summer vacation, but that he was expected to return within 10 days. In a letter from
Gahn to Bergman dated August 16, Gahn had heard from his brother that Bergman
had returned to Uppsala from Mariestad [15]. Scheele is believed to have visited
Bergman soon after his return.
It was two rather young men that met; Scheele was 27 and Bergman 35. When it
came to chemistry, there is no doubt that Scheele was the more experienced of the
two, while Bergman had the broad academic training and was a talented writer. An
indication of how fast their friendship developed is the fact that Scheele appears to
have acted as Bergman’s assistant when he was visited by Crown Prince Gustav
and Prince Heinrich of Prussia in September (Sect. 13.6). Perhaps Bergman, who
had taken all measures to make a good impression, did not trust his laboratory
assistants, Tidström and Wibom, who were probably still loyal to Wallerius.
13.4 Scheele’s First Papers
After Scheele had befriended Bergman, his situation changed dramatically, and he
had no more problems publishing his results in the Transaction of the Royal Swedish
Academy of Sciences. His first papers were submitted directly to Bergman, who read
them through before sending them to the Academy. To what extent Bergman may
have edited Scheele’s early papers cannot be determined. The first paper published
by Scheele [12] was an investigation on the mineral fluorite (fluorspar; CaF 2 ), which
included the highly controversial discovery of hydrofluoric acid (Sect. 14.1) [16].
The investigation of fluorite may have been carried out on his own initiative, while
the topic for his second paper, the mineral pyrolusite (MnO 2 ; Sect. 15.1), was
13.2 The Collaboration of Scheele and Gahn
199