suggested to him by Bergman. The long delay between the first and second paper,
which did not appear until 1774, [17] had several reasons. One reason was that
Bergman had high expectations and ambitions that stretched beyond those of
Scheele [18]. He thus persuaded Scheele to continue the experiments although
Scheele himself believed he had exhausted the subject. This was very fortunate for
Scheele, as the resulting paper would be one of Scheele’s most important works
including the discovery of three chemical elements [19]. Scheele proved the elemental nature of manganese (manganese sulphate was known, but was confused
with alum), he proved the elemental nature of barium and was the first to describe
elemental chlorine. Other reasons for the delay were probably his concurrent
experiments with air and fire and the 1772–1773 famine that kept Scheele busy in the
pharmacy. The length of Scheele’s manganese paper, Bergman referred to it as a
small book in a letter to Gahn, was also a problem. According to a letter to Gahn,
Bergman appears to have had problems getting the paper printed, and it had to be
divided into two parts. It was this paper that made Scheele famous and was the main
merit when he was elected a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
(Sect. 13.5) and offered the professorship in Berlin (Chap. 16). While in Uppsala,
Scheele published only one more paper, on an improved method for preparing
benzoic acid (Sect. 24.1), [20] but he had many unpublished results, including the
discovery of oxygen, when he left the city after 5 years.
13.5 Scheele Elected a Member of the Royal Swedish
Academy of Sciences
The ultimate proof of Scheele’s growing reputation after the publication of the
manganese paper is the fact that Bergius suggested Scheele as a member of the
Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences on July 27, 1774 [21]. A second suggestion
(also by Bergius) was submitted on October 26 and on February 4, 1775, Scheele
was elected a member on a meeting in the presence of King Gustav III. His election
is rather remarkable, given that Scheele, aged 33, had yet not even taken his
apothecary exam. The news was brought to Scheele in a letter from Wargentin,
dated February 6. Scheele did not, however, make the trip to Stockholm to take his
seat in the Academy. Not until Bergman’s term as president in 1777, was Scheele
persuaded to deliver is inaugural lecture.
13.6 Prince Heinrich’s Visit
On September 18, 1770, Crown Prince Gustav arrived in Uppsala with his guest
Prince Heinrich of Prussia (1726–1802), brother of Frederick the Great (Friedrich
II) and uncle of Gustav [22]. They arrived at 6 p.m., and their first stop was the
University Library where they visited Professor of philology Johan Ihre. Next, the
200
13 Scheele in Uppsala
which did not appear until 1774, [17] had several reasons. One reason was that
Bergman had high expectations and ambitions that stretched beyond those of
Scheele [18]. He thus persuaded Scheele to continue the experiments although
Scheele himself believed he had exhausted the subject. This was very fortunate for
Scheele, as the resulting paper would be one of Scheele’s most important works
including the discovery of three chemical elements [19]. Scheele proved the elemental nature of manganese (manganese sulphate was known, but was confused
with alum), he proved the elemental nature of barium and was the first to describe
elemental chlorine. Other reasons for the delay were probably his concurrent
experiments with air and fire and the 1772–1773 famine that kept Scheele busy in the
pharmacy. The length of Scheele’s manganese paper, Bergman referred to it as a
small book in a letter to Gahn, was also a problem. According to a letter to Gahn,
Bergman appears to have had problems getting the paper printed, and it had to be
divided into two parts. It was this paper that made Scheele famous and was the main
merit when he was elected a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
(Sect. 13.5) and offered the professorship in Berlin (Chap. 16). While in Uppsala,
Scheele published only one more paper, on an improved method for preparing
benzoic acid (Sect. 24.1), [20] but he had many unpublished results, including the
discovery of oxygen, when he left the city after 5 years.
13.5 Scheele Elected a Member of the Royal Swedish
Academy of Sciences
The ultimate proof of Scheele’s growing reputation after the publication of the
manganese paper is the fact that Bergius suggested Scheele as a member of the
Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences on July 27, 1774 [21]. A second suggestion
(also by Bergius) was submitted on October 26 and on February 4, 1775, Scheele
was elected a member on a meeting in the presence of King Gustav III. His election
is rather remarkable, given that Scheele, aged 33, had yet not even taken his
apothecary exam. The news was brought to Scheele in a letter from Wargentin,
dated February 6. Scheele did not, however, make the trip to Stockholm to take his
seat in the Academy. Not until Bergman’s term as president in 1777, was Scheele
persuaded to deliver is inaugural lecture.
13.6 Prince Heinrich’s Visit
On September 18, 1770, Crown Prince Gustav arrived in Uppsala with his guest
Prince Heinrich of Prussia (1726–1802), brother of Frederick the Great (Friedrich
II) and uncle of Gustav [22]. They arrived at 6 p.m., and their first stop was the
University Library where they visited Professor of philology Johan Ihre. Next, the
200
13 Scheele in Uppsala