20
Bergman’s Work on Elective
Attractions
Early chemist noted that different substances appeared to have different affinities, or
attractions, to each other. For example, silver nitrate was found to precipitate
hydrochloric acid (formation of insoluble silver chloride) which was interpreted as a
strong affinity of silver for hydrochloric acid. In 1718, French apothecary and
chemist Étienne François Geoffroy (1672–1731) published a table where he
attempted to summarise the affinities between chemical substances (Fig. 20.1;
Table 20.1) [1]. Geoffroy’s table consists of 16 columns, each column headed by a
substance, and bellow is a list of other substances listed with decreasing order of
affinity for the substance in the heading. To save space, Geoffroy used the
alchemical symbols rather than writing out chemical names. In the first column, for
instance, the heading is acids in general. Fixed alkali (K 2 CO 3 and Na 2 CO 3 ) is at the
top with the greatest affinity for acids, followed by ammonia, absorbent earths (such
as CaO) and finally metals. The table is rather arbitrary, both in the choice of
substances as well as in the order. Some columns denote chemical reactions (e.g.
the acid column), while for instance the last column (water) expresses the higher
solubility of ethanol compared to sodium chloride in water, and the metal columns
appear to describe formation of alloys. Despite its flaws, this table was an interesting step towards organising chemical knowledge. Geoffroy’s table got considerable attention and was for instance reproduced (without modification) by Macquer
in his Elemens de Chymie Theorique in 1749.
For Bergman, with his strong background in physics and his admiration for
Newton, it was logical to attempt to apply the laws of physics on chemistry. It
should also be recalled that “universal attractions” was the topic of the dissertation
of his first student. In the 1770s, he would embark on an ambitious project trying to
unify all chemical knowledge into a single system. He would attempt to bring all
known substances together in a single table describing all possible reactions
between what he considered simple substances. Bergman was familiar with
Geoffroy’s table, but was also aware of some of its major flaws and found it a useful
way of representing the attractions between chemical substances.
© 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_20
267
Bergman’s Work on Elective
Attractions
Early chemist noted that different substances appeared to have different affinities, or
attractions, to each other. For example, silver nitrate was found to precipitate
hydrochloric acid (formation of insoluble silver chloride) which was interpreted as a
strong affinity of silver for hydrochloric acid. In 1718, French apothecary and
chemist Étienne François Geoffroy (1672–1731) published a table where he
attempted to summarise the affinities between chemical substances (Fig. 20.1;
Table 20.1) [1]. Geoffroy’s table consists of 16 columns, each column headed by a
substance, and bellow is a list of other substances listed with decreasing order of
affinity for the substance in the heading. To save space, Geoffroy used the
alchemical symbols rather than writing out chemical names. In the first column, for
instance, the heading is acids in general. Fixed alkali (K 2 CO 3 and Na 2 CO 3 ) is at the
top with the greatest affinity for acids, followed by ammonia, absorbent earths (such
as CaO) and finally metals. The table is rather arbitrary, both in the choice of
substances as well as in the order. Some columns denote chemical reactions (e.g.
the acid column), while for instance the last column (water) expresses the higher
solubility of ethanol compared to sodium chloride in water, and the metal columns
appear to describe formation of alloys. Despite its flaws, this table was an interesting step towards organising chemical knowledge. Geoffroy’s table got considerable attention and was for instance reproduced (without modification) by Macquer
in his Elemens de Chymie Theorique in 1749.
For Bergman, with his strong background in physics and his admiration for
Newton, it was logical to attempt to apply the laws of physics on chemistry. It
should also be recalled that “universal attractions” was the topic of the dissertation
of his first student. In the 1770s, he would embark on an ambitious project trying to
unify all chemical knowledge into a single system. He would attempt to bring all
known substances together in a single table describing all possible reactions
between what he considered simple substances. Bergman was familiar with
Geoffroy’s table, but was also aware of some of its major flaws and found it a useful
way of representing the attractions between chemical substances.
© 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_20
267