Appendix D: Literature on Bergman
and Scheele
Shortly after Bergman’s death, two memorial lectures were given and subsequently
printed. The first was held by Bergman’s friend philologist Pehr Fabian Aurivillius
(1756–1829) in the Västergötland Student Nation on 15 June 1785. The printed
booklet consists of 51 p [4]. The second lecture was delivered in the Royal Swedish
Academy of Sciences in Stockholm on 3 May 1786 by Bergman’s student Peter
Jacob Hjelm. The printed version consists of 104 p. and would remain the most
extensive biographical work on Bergman for 200 years (Fig. D.1). Not until 1985
was a book-length biography over Bergman published. The book, Torbern
Bergman—a Man Before his Time by American professor J. A. Schufle, contains
biographical information on Bergman and discussion of his research mixed with
Schufle’s own experiences of Uppsala in the late 1970s. Unfortunately, the book is
out of print and rather rare. In addition, its typesetting (it is reproduced directly from
a typewritten manuscript) is not very inspiring to a modern reader. Although being
a historian rather than chemist, Schufle’s description of Bergman’s work is quite
accurate. A problem, however, is that as Schufle was not fluent in Swedish and
there are many misspellings of Swedish names and words. In addition, Schufle’s
typewriter lacked the letters å, ä and ö, as correctly noted by George B. Kauffman in
his review [5]. There are also some misconceptions due to mistranslations. The
focus of the book is Bergman’s research and some parts of his life, but not, for
instance, his death. In some cases, Schufle has attempted to recreate the dialogues
taking place during the defences of theses, etc. With its limitations in mind, this 547
p. book is a must-read for anyone interested in Bergman.
The memorial lecture over Scheele was delayed by Wilcke for unknown reasons
and was finally delivered by his successor as secretary of the Academy, Carl Gustaf
Sjöstén, on 14 October 1799 and printed in 1801 as an 84 p. booklet (Fig. D.1). The
author is given as Sjöstén, while most of the text was written by Scheele’s friend
Wilcke, who had passed away in 1796. Another influential Scheele biography was
the 54 p. long booklet [6] published by Uppsala professor Per Teodor Cleve (1840–
1905; the discoverer of elements holmium and thulium) for the 100th anniversary of
Scheele’s death in 1886. The portrait of Scheele used as frontispiece (Fig. 3.17) is,
although unhistorical, still the most reproduced image of Scheele. The professor of
Chemistry in Lund, Christian Wilhelm Blomstrand and the professor of agricultural
© 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
419
and Scheele
Shortly after Bergman’s death, two memorial lectures were given and subsequently
printed. The first was held by Bergman’s friend philologist Pehr Fabian Aurivillius
(1756–1829) in the Västergötland Student Nation on 15 June 1785. The printed
booklet consists of 51 p [4]. The second lecture was delivered in the Royal Swedish
Academy of Sciences in Stockholm on 3 May 1786 by Bergman’s student Peter
Jacob Hjelm. The printed version consists of 104 p. and would remain the most
extensive biographical work on Bergman for 200 years (Fig. D.1). Not until 1985
was a book-length biography over Bergman published. The book, Torbern
Bergman—a Man Before his Time by American professor J. A. Schufle, contains
biographical information on Bergman and discussion of his research mixed with
Schufle’s own experiences of Uppsala in the late 1970s. Unfortunately, the book is
out of print and rather rare. In addition, its typesetting (it is reproduced directly from
a typewritten manuscript) is not very inspiring to a modern reader. Although being
a historian rather than chemist, Schufle’s description of Bergman’s work is quite
accurate. A problem, however, is that as Schufle was not fluent in Swedish and
there are many misspellings of Swedish names and words. In addition, Schufle’s
typewriter lacked the letters å, ä and ö, as correctly noted by George B. Kauffman in
his review [5]. There are also some misconceptions due to mistranslations. The
focus of the book is Bergman’s research and some parts of his life, but not, for
instance, his death. In some cases, Schufle has attempted to recreate the dialogues
taking place during the defences of theses, etc. With its limitations in mind, this 547
p. book is a must-read for anyone interested in Bergman.
The memorial lecture over Scheele was delayed by Wilcke for unknown reasons
and was finally delivered by his successor as secretary of the Academy, Carl Gustaf
Sjöstén, on 14 October 1799 and printed in 1801 as an 84 p. booklet (Fig. D.1). The
author is given as Sjöstén, while most of the text was written by Scheele’s friend
Wilcke, who had passed away in 1796. Another influential Scheele biography was
the 54 p. long booklet [6] published by Uppsala professor Per Teodor Cleve (1840–
1905; the discoverer of elements holmium and thulium) for the 100th anniversary of
Scheele’s death in 1886. The portrait of Scheele used as frontispiece (Fig. 3.17) is,
although unhistorical, still the most reproduced image of Scheele. The professor of
Chemistry in Lund, Christian Wilhelm Blomstrand and the professor of agricultural
© 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
419