3.2 Torbern
Unfortunately, Bergman’s private life and personality is even less known than
Scheele’s. This may be surprising, as Bergman lived a far more public life than
Scheele, but it should be remembered that much of our knowledge of Scheele’s
personality comes from the work of Wilcke, while Bergman’s early biographers,
Peter Jacob Hjelm (1746–1813) and Pehr Fabian Aurivillius (1756–1829) did not
mention much about Bergman’s private life. This is not surprising, as they (unlike
Wilcke) delivered their memorial lectures soon after Bergman’s death, and the
majority of their audiences probably knew Bergman in person. In the case of
Scheele, the situation was different; he had probably only visited Stockholm once
since 1770 and had already become somewhat of a myth by the time Wilcke was
collecting his material. Thus, we have to search for more indirect details in letters
and other sources in order to get a picture of Bergman.
Hjelm described Bergman as tall and slim [6]. According to Aurivillius, Bergman tended to avoid social life when it interfered with his work, but he enjoyed
spending time with a few friends [7]. Some authors claim that Bergman’s only
pleasure was his work, [8] while others are better informed. When he had a spare
moment he would, at least in the summer, go out in his garden; look after his bees
(Sect. 12.2) or his birds, which he in later years breed in large number in order to
observe their habits [9]. As everyone in Sweden at the time, Bergman was a
believing protestant (anything else was illegal). He attended the morning service in
the church every Sunday, as long as his health permitted, and would otherwise read
Christian texts to compensate [10].
Fig. 3.2 Scheele’s signature
from six different letters. As
can be seen, he did not have a
distinct autograph. Carl
Wilhelm Scheele’s Archive,
Centre for History of Science,
Royal Swedish Academy of
Sciences. Photo Anders
Lennartson
3.2 Torbern
27
Unfortunately, Bergman’s private life and personality is even less known than
Scheele’s. This may be surprising, as Bergman lived a far more public life than
Scheele, but it should be remembered that much of our knowledge of Scheele’s
personality comes from the work of Wilcke, while Bergman’s early biographers,
Peter Jacob Hjelm (1746–1813) and Pehr Fabian Aurivillius (1756–1829) did not
mention much about Bergman’s private life. This is not surprising, as they (unlike
Wilcke) delivered their memorial lectures soon after Bergman’s death, and the
majority of their audiences probably knew Bergman in person. In the case of
Scheele, the situation was different; he had probably only visited Stockholm once
since 1770 and had already become somewhat of a myth by the time Wilcke was
collecting his material. Thus, we have to search for more indirect details in letters
and other sources in order to get a picture of Bergman.
Hjelm described Bergman as tall and slim [6]. According to Aurivillius, Bergman tended to avoid social life when it interfered with his work, but he enjoyed
spending time with a few friends [7]. Some authors claim that Bergman’s only
pleasure was his work, [8] while others are better informed. When he had a spare
moment he would, at least in the summer, go out in his garden; look after his bees
(Sect. 12.2) or his birds, which he in later years breed in large number in order to
observe their habits [9]. As everyone in Sweden at the time, Bergman was a
believing protestant (anything else was illegal). He attended the morning service in
the church every Sunday, as long as his health permitted, and would otherwise read
Christian texts to compensate [10].
Fig. 3.2 Scheele’s signature
from six different letters. As
can be seen, he did not have a
distinct autograph. Carl
Wilhelm Scheele’s Archive,
Centre for History of Science,
Royal Swedish Academy of
Sciences. Photo Anders
Lennartson
3.2 Torbern
27