6
Bergman, Scheele and the Royal
Academy of Sciences
An important step in Bergman’s career was his election as member of the Royal
Swedish Academy of Sciences (Kungl. Vetenskapsakademien) in Stockholm.
Scheele was eventually also made a member, but as an apothecary, the membership
had no direct bearing on his career. Through the membership he did, however, receive
financial support, important contacts and a higher international status. In addition to
the Academy, Scheele also developed strong bonds to Collegium medicum.
6.1 Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
Mårten Triewald (1691–1747) was a Swedish engineer who had spent ten years in
England studying engineering and who was especially interested in the first steam
engines that had found use in British mines. After returning to Sweden in 1726, he
gave lectures in mechanics in Stockholm and was the first to introduce the steam
engine in Sweden. During his stay in London, he had been inspired by the Royal
Society, and he now dreamed of establishing a learned society in Sweden. The
Royal Society of Sciences at Uppsala (Kungliga Vetenskapssocieteten i Uppsala)
had been established in 1710 but focused on humanities, and was far from the
society that Triewald had in mind [1].
During the winter of 1738/39, Triewald had befriended Carl Linnaeus, who had
returned to Sweden from the Netherlands. He convinced Linnaeus of the need for a
society for applied science in Stockholm. A young politician, Anders Johan von
Höpken (1712–1789),
1 who had made his way to the inner political circles in
1
It may be recalled that it was von Höpken, as University Chancellor, who appointed Bergman to
adjunct.
© 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_6
73
Bergman, Scheele and the Royal
Academy of Sciences
An important step in Bergman’s career was his election as member of the Royal
Swedish Academy of Sciences (Kungl. Vetenskapsakademien) in Stockholm.
Scheele was eventually also made a member, but as an apothecary, the membership
had no direct bearing on his career. Through the membership he did, however, receive
financial support, important contacts and a higher international status. In addition to
the Academy, Scheele also developed strong bonds to Collegium medicum.
6.1 Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
Mårten Triewald (1691–1747) was a Swedish engineer who had spent ten years in
England studying engineering and who was especially interested in the first steam
engines that had found use in British mines. After returning to Sweden in 1726, he
gave lectures in mechanics in Stockholm and was the first to introduce the steam
engine in Sweden. During his stay in London, he had been inspired by the Royal
Society, and he now dreamed of establishing a learned society in Sweden. The
Royal Society of Sciences at Uppsala (Kungliga Vetenskapssocieteten i Uppsala)
had been established in 1710 but focused on humanities, and was far from the
society that Triewald had in mind [1].
During the winter of 1738/39, Triewald had befriended Carl Linnaeus, who had
returned to Sweden from the Netherlands. He convinced Linnaeus of the need for a
society for applied science in Stockholm. A young politician, Anders Johan von
Höpken (1712–1789),
1 who had made his way to the inner political circles in
1
It may be recalled that it was von Höpken, as University Chancellor, who appointed Bergman to
adjunct.
© 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_6
73