Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - IV. Education and Mental Culture. Introd. by P. E. Lindström - 11. Science - Chemistry. By H. G. Söderbaum
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
Below is the raw OCR text
from the above scanned image.
Do you see an error? Proofread the page now!
Här nedan syns maskintolkade texten från faksimilbilden ovan.
Ser du något fel? Korrekturläs sidan nu!
This page has never been proofread. / Denna sida har aldrig korrekturlästs.
’608
iv. education and mental culture.
.as the founder, or one of the founders, of physiological chemistry. Berzelius
invented the method of decomposing silicates with the aid of hydrofluoric acid,
and of separating metals by means of chlorine. He brought into use platinum
crucibles, washing-bottles, and rubber ligatures, and was the founder of modern
ultimate analysis. He disseminated the knowledge of blowpipe analysis beyond
the precincts of Sweden. He was the author of a comprehensive manual of
chemistry. Finally, through the medium of his Annual Reports on Chemistry,
issued from 1821 to 1847, and in other ways, he wielded a powerful and
wide-spread influence as a critic.
To this period there belonged several other notable chemists. Thus there
was A. G. Ekeberg (1767—1813), the discoverer of tantalum; N. G. Sefström
(1787—1845), the discoverer of vanadium; J. A. Arfwedson (1792—1841), an
assiduous analyst of minerals, and the discoverer of lithium. Finally K. G.
Mosander (1787—1858), who discovered no less than four new elements,
lanthanum, did5rmium, erbium, and terbium. 1
After the Berzelian period, chemical science in Sweden proceeded at first
along the lines marked out by the master; it was but slightly affected by the
great revolution which was then taking place in chemistry in Europe at large.
L. F. Svanberg (1805—78) determined the atomic weights of several elements,
and discovered phosphomolybdic acid. N. J. Berlin (1812—91) made the
first exact determination of the atomic weight of chromium. He was an author
of chemical text-books. He deserves particularly to be remembered as a writer
of popular scientific manuals; his famous "Naturlära" (Manual of Physics), which
has been translated into several languages, was quite epoch-making in that line.
F. Eggertz (1817—89) elaborated valuable methods for the testing of iron
and iron ores. H. v. Post (1822—1911) was eminent both as a teacher and
as an author in the field of Agricultural Chemistry. K. V. Blomstrand (1826—
97) endeavoured to reconcile Berzelius’ system with modern chemistry by
deducing the latter as a corollary out of the former, and thus paved the way
for more modern points of view. He also actively contributed to the solution
of the problem of the combining values of the elements.
In the course of the last few centuries, Swedish chemistry has emerged
more and more completely out of the isolation into which it had lapsed after
the death of Berzelius, and has made very important contributions to
chemical science in many of its branches. F. L. Ekman (1830—90), the
hydro-grapher, studied the processes of suphuric acid manufacture, and devised
methods for the analysis of water. A. Nobel (1833—96) invented dynamite and
the smokeless Nobel powder called after him. L. F. Nilson (1840—99) made
an extensive study of coupled platinum compounds and of the rare earths,
discovered scandium, determined the atomic weights and combining weights of
several elements, and wrote a number of works on analytical chemistry. He
afterwards took up agricultural chemistry, and published important works on
the fat percentages of cow’s milk, the nutritive value of Swedish forage-plants,
the cultivation of the White Beet, manures, and so forth. P. T. Cleve (1840—
1905) made important studies of ammonical metallic compounds, naphthalene
derivatives, and the rare earths, among which latter he discovered two new
elements: holmium and thulium. E. Berglund (1846—87) made valuable
researches into amido and imido sulphonic acid, and executed important analytical
work. J. A. Bladin (1856—1902) achieved distinction by his syntheses of
remarkable organic closed-chain compounds of carbon and nitrogen (triazoles
and tetrazoles).
1 It is a significant fact that out of the total number of elements at present known,
namely about 75, no less than 20 were discovered by Swedish chemists.
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
