Scheele

Carl Wilhelm Scheele (9 December 1742 – 21 May 1786) was a Swedish chemist whose experimental work helped lay the foundations of modern chemistry. Renowned for his investigations of gases, acids, and metals, Scheele identified or isolated several substances and elements during the 1770s and 1780s. His findings on gas chemistry complemented the work of contemporaries such as Priestley and Lavoisier, though many of Scheele’s results were published posthumously.

Born in Stralsund, then part of Swedish Pomerania, Scheele trained as a pharmacist and conducted extensive chemical research while working in various Swedish towns. His prolific output included studies of combustion, metal reactivity, and the behavior of acids, as well as the analysis of organic compounds and plant-derived substances.

Among Scheele’s notable achievements are the discovery of oxygen gas (which he referred to as fire air) and the discovery of chlorine in 1774. He is also credited with identifying the element molybdenum in 1778 and with multiple advances in chemical analysis and the isolation of several acids and compounds. His careful observations and broad experimentation contributed to the shift in chemistry from speculative theories to empirical science.

Scheele died in Stockholm in 1786 at the age of 43. Much of his work appeared after his death, notably in the collection Chemische Abhandlungen (1787). His meticulous methodology and wide-ranging discoveries established him as a central figure in the pre-Lavoisier era of the chemical revolution.