21.3 Scheele’s Book on Air and Fire
When leaving Uppsala in the summer of 1775, Scheele had largely finished his
studies of oxygen and combustion, with only a few control experiments that may
have been performed in Köping. After arriving in Köping, Scheele first finished the
paper on arsenic acid, and it was most likely not until that autumn that he began
writing on his Chemische Abhandlung von der Luft und dem Feuer. By then,
Scheele was aware that Priestley was investigating the properties of air, and he
probably realised that it was time to publish his own results. Priestley was, however, faster than Scheele. The second volume of Priestley’s Experiments and
Observations on Different Kinds of Air appeared in late 1775 (the dedication to
John Pringle, President of the Royal Society, was signed in November), and in this
book, Priestley gave the first printed account of oxygen:
On the 1st of August 1774, I endeavoured to extract air from mercurius calcinatus per se
[mercury(II) oxide prepared by heating mercury in air]; and I presently found that, by
means of this lens [burning glass], air was expelled from it very readily […]. But what
surprized me more than I can well express, was, that a candle burned in this air with a
remarkably vigorous flame […] [14].
It took some time for Priestley to realise the significance of his results. In
October, he travelled with Lord Shelburne to Paris where he met French chemist
Lavoisier, and not until March 1775, he had developed his ideas of combustion
[15]. The much more provocative style of Priestley compared to Scheele is apparent
already in the preface of his book:
I even think that I may flatter myself so much, if it be any flattery, as to say, that there is not,
in the whole compass of philosophical writing, a history of experiments so truly ingenious
as mine, and especially the Section on the discovery of dephlogisticated air [oxygen], which
I will venture to exhibit as a model of the kind. I am not conscious to myself of having
concealed the least hint that was suggested to me by any person whatever, any kind of
assistance that has been given to me, or any views or hypotheses by which the experiments
were directed, whether they were verified by result, or not. [16]
The rest of the preface is devoted to his religious ideas. Scheele most probably
never saw Priestley’s book. In February 1777, he wrote to Gahn: “Priestley’s book,
I have never seen. Is it in French, I would have liked to read it”.
The length of Scheele’s work on air and fire meant that it could not be published
in the Transactions of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, and thus Scheele
made an agreement with book dealer Magnus Swederus (Sect. 9.7) in Uppsala.
Swederus had previously published works by Bergman, but apparently Bergman
was not entirely satisfied. In a letter to Gahn dated November 27, 1775, Scheele
wrote that he was writing the last pages, and that he had been writing the whole
nights. In the same letter, he was sceptic about Priestley’s theories. In a letter to
Gahn dated December 22, he wrote that he was about to send the manuscript to
Swederus, and in a letter to Bergman dated January 12, 1776, the manuscript has
already been sent. On January 19, Scheele wrote that the manuscript had been in the
hands of Swederus for one month, but that he was unsure whether the printing had
21.3 Scheele’s Book on Air and Fire
283
When leaving Uppsala in the summer of 1775, Scheele had largely finished his
studies of oxygen and combustion, with only a few control experiments that may
have been performed in Köping. After arriving in Köping, Scheele first finished the
paper on arsenic acid, and it was most likely not until that autumn that he began
writing on his Chemische Abhandlung von der Luft und dem Feuer. By then,
Scheele was aware that Priestley was investigating the properties of air, and he
probably realised that it was time to publish his own results. Priestley was, however, faster than Scheele. The second volume of Priestley’s Experiments and
Observations on Different Kinds of Air appeared in late 1775 (the dedication to
John Pringle, President of the Royal Society, was signed in November), and in this
book, Priestley gave the first printed account of oxygen:
On the 1st of August 1774, I endeavoured to extract air from mercurius calcinatus per se
[mercury(II) oxide prepared by heating mercury in air]; and I presently found that, by
means of this lens [burning glass], air was expelled from it very readily […]. But what
surprized me more than I can well express, was, that a candle burned in this air with a
remarkably vigorous flame […] [14].
It took some time for Priestley to realise the significance of his results. In
October, he travelled with Lord Shelburne to Paris where he met French chemist
Lavoisier, and not until March 1775, he had developed his ideas of combustion
[15]. The much more provocative style of Priestley compared to Scheele is apparent
already in the preface of his book:
I even think that I may flatter myself so much, if it be any flattery, as to say, that there is not,
in the whole compass of philosophical writing, a history of experiments so truly ingenious
as mine, and especially the Section on the discovery of dephlogisticated air [oxygen], which
I will venture to exhibit as a model of the kind. I am not conscious to myself of having
concealed the least hint that was suggested to me by any person whatever, any kind of
assistance that has been given to me, or any views or hypotheses by which the experiments
were directed, whether they were verified by result, or not. [16]
The rest of the preface is devoted to his religious ideas. Scheele most probably
never saw Priestley’s book. In February 1777, he wrote to Gahn: “Priestley’s book,
I have never seen. Is it in French, I would have liked to read it”.
The length of Scheele’s work on air and fire meant that it could not be published
in the Transactions of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, and thus Scheele
made an agreement with book dealer Magnus Swederus (Sect. 9.7) in Uppsala.
Swederus had previously published works by Bergman, but apparently Bergman
was not entirely satisfied. In a letter to Gahn dated November 27, 1775, Scheele
wrote that he was writing the last pages, and that he had been writing the whole
nights. In the same letter, he was sceptic about Priestley’s theories. In a letter to
Gahn dated December 22, he wrote that he was about to send the manuscript to
Swederus, and in a letter to Bergman dated January 12, 1776, the manuscript has
already been sent. On January 19, Scheele wrote that the manuscript had been in the
hands of Swederus for one month, but that he was unsure whether the printing had
21.3 Scheele’s Book on Air and Fire
283