15
New Metals
Seven metals had been known for millennia: gold, silver, copper, iron, lead, tin, and
mercury. Zinc and bismuth were known, but not universally recognised as unique
metals until the eighteenth century. Platinum had been known to the native South
Americans and was brought to Europe in the 1730s, but many chemists believed it
to be an alloy. The first new metals discovered in modern times were cobalt in
c. 1735 and nickel in 1751. Scheele and Bergman contributed to the discovery of a
number of new metals and contributed to the knowledge of several of the recently
discovered metals.
15.1 The Investigation of Pyrolusite: The Discovery
of Manganese
On Bergman’s suggestion, Scheele undertook the study of a mineral known as
manganese
1 or Magnesia nigra (Fig. 15.1) which consists mainly of manganese
(IV) oxide (MnO 2 ). To avoid confusion with the metal now called manganese, the
modern name pyrolusite will be used for the mineral throughout this text. The
statement by Oseen[1] that Scheele had described experiments with pyrolusite to
Gahn before he met Bergman is in error; Scheele is referring to Magnesia alba
(basic magnesium carbonate) and not Magnesia nigra (pyrolusite).
Bergman may have suggested the study of pyrolusite already at his first meeting
with Scheele, or soon after that meeting. It had been observed by German physician
and chemist Johan Heinrich Pott (1692–1777) that pyrolusite absorbed phlogiston
on heating and became soluble in acids, i.e. it is reduced to manganese (II).
1
Scheele and Bergman used the Swedish name brunsten = brown stone.
© 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_15
213
New Metals
Seven metals had been known for millennia: gold, silver, copper, iron, lead, tin, and
mercury. Zinc and bismuth were known, but not universally recognised as unique
metals until the eighteenth century. Platinum had been known to the native South
Americans and was brought to Europe in the 1730s, but many chemists believed it
to be an alloy. The first new metals discovered in modern times were cobalt in
c. 1735 and nickel in 1751. Scheele and Bergman contributed to the discovery of a
number of new metals and contributed to the knowledge of several of the recently
discovered metals.
15.1 The Investigation of Pyrolusite: The Discovery
of Manganese
On Bergman’s suggestion, Scheele undertook the study of a mineral known as
manganese
1 or Magnesia nigra (Fig. 15.1) which consists mainly of manganese
(IV) oxide (MnO 2 ). To avoid confusion with the metal now called manganese, the
modern name pyrolusite will be used for the mineral throughout this text. The
statement by Oseen[1] that Scheele had described experiments with pyrolusite to
Gahn before he met Bergman is in error; Scheele is referring to Magnesia alba
(basic magnesium carbonate) and not Magnesia nigra (pyrolusite).
Bergman may have suggested the study of pyrolusite already at his first meeting
with Scheele, or soon after that meeting. It had been observed by German physician
and chemist Johan Heinrich Pott (1692–1777) that pyrolusite absorbed phlogiston
on heating and became soluble in acids, i.e. it is reduced to manganese (II).
1
Scheele and Bergman used the Swedish name brunsten = brown stone.
© 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_15
213