b. | December 9, 1742 | in | Stralsund?, Pomerania, Sweden (now Pomorze?, Poland) | Anyone please add a PD image |
d. | May 21, 1786 | in | ?????? | |
Karl (or Carl) Wilhelm Scheele, Swedish chemist, discoverer of many chemical substances. |
Scheele worked as a pharmacist? in Stockholm, from 1770-1775 in Uppsala, and later in [[Köping]]. His studies lead him to the discovery of oxygen and nitrogen in 1772/73, which he published in his only book Chemical Observations and Experiments on Air and Fire in 1777, losing some fame to [Joseph Priestley]?, who independently discovered oxygen in 1774.
Scheele also discovered other chemical elements like chlorine (1774), manganese (1774), tungsten (1781), barium, and molybdenum (1782), as well as several molecules like glycerol?, [hydrocyanic acid]? (aka [prussic acid]?), [citric acid]?, [hydrogen sulphide]?, and [hydrogen fluoride]?. Furthermore, he discovered a process similar to pasteurization.
As many chemists in his time, Scheele often worked under difficult and often dangerous conditions, which might explain his early death.