3
The Two Men
This chapter attempts to paint the picture of the two main characters of the book—
Carl Wilhelm Scheele and Torbern Bergman. From the scattered information
available via letters and early biographies, we can get at least some idea on their
personal characters.
3.1 Wilhelm
Scheele is described as a man of average height, sturdily built with round face and
red complexion [1]. His friend Wilcke gave the following characteristics [1]:
The clear expression of his face did not immediately reveal anything extraordinarily
remarkable, but the eyes revealed a fire, and the speech a steadiness that arouse attention
and confidence, the latter, however, not easy to detect without closer relations. One noticed
it especially when he, in discussions with others, with great curiosity listened to what he
himself did not know, and with confidence talked about his own discoveries, explained his
experiments and often ended up in instructive lectures.
In scientific discussions, he listened to opposing opinions and could always back
up his claims with experimental evidence. In speech, he expressed himself briefly
and was usually seriously minded, thoughtful, and unaffected. He was unpretentious, lived a simple life, and for instance, never consumed alcohol [2]. Except for
science, he rarely engaged in longer discussions. Anders Jahan Retzius (1842–
1821), a friend from his youth (Sect. 8.1), wrote to Wilcke after Scheele’s death:
“His genius was completely intended for physical sciences, others he had absolutely
no inclination for. The result is, without doubt, that he could appear slow when it
came to other things” [3]. Retzius also remarked that Scheele had an excellent
memory. Most biographers have indicated that Scheele throughout his life preferred
to express himself in German, but it should be noted that he, at least later in life,
wrote letters in flawless Swedish. It is generally believed that all his manuscripts
© 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_3
25
The Two Men
This chapter attempts to paint the picture of the two main characters of the book—
Carl Wilhelm Scheele and Torbern Bergman. From the scattered information
available via letters and early biographies, we can get at least some idea on their
personal characters.
3.1 Wilhelm
Scheele is described as a man of average height, sturdily built with round face and
red complexion [1]. His friend Wilcke gave the following characteristics [1]:
The clear expression of his face did not immediately reveal anything extraordinarily
remarkable, but the eyes revealed a fire, and the speech a steadiness that arouse attention
and confidence, the latter, however, not easy to detect without closer relations. One noticed
it especially when he, in discussions with others, with great curiosity listened to what he
himself did not know, and with confidence talked about his own discoveries, explained his
experiments and often ended up in instructive lectures.
In scientific discussions, he listened to opposing opinions and could always back
up his claims with experimental evidence. In speech, he expressed himself briefly
and was usually seriously minded, thoughtful, and unaffected. He was unpretentious, lived a simple life, and for instance, never consumed alcohol [2]. Except for
science, he rarely engaged in longer discussions. Anders Jahan Retzius (1842–
1821), a friend from his youth (Sect. 8.1), wrote to Wilcke after Scheele’s death:
“His genius was completely intended for physical sciences, others he had absolutely
no inclination for. The result is, without doubt, that he could appear slow when it
came to other things” [3]. Retzius also remarked that Scheele had an excellent
memory. Most biographers have indicated that Scheele throughout his life preferred
to express himself in German, but it should be noted that he, at least later in life,
wrote letters in flawless Swedish. It is generally believed that all his manuscripts
© 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_3
25