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Carl Wilhelm Scheele

File:Carl_Wilhelm_Scheele_by_Johann_Gottfried_Scheffner_(cropped).png · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons

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Carl Wilhelm Scheele

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Also known as Karl Wilhelm Scheele, Carl Scheele

Swedish German chemist who discovered oxygen

AI overview

Carl Wilhelm Scheele was a Swedish-German chemist who made groundbreaking discoveries in chemistry during the 18th century, most notably identifying oxygen as a distinct element. His work laid important foundations for modern chemistry and our understanding of how air and combustion work.

AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.

Wikidata facts

Instance of
human
Given name
Wilhelm
Gender
male
Citizenship
Sweden
Place of birth
Stralsund
Place of death
Köping
Occupation
pharmacologist
Educated at
Uppsala University
Languages spoken
German
Student of
Torbern Bergman
Field of work
chemistry
Image
Carl Wilhelm Scheele.jpg
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Commons category
Carl Wilhelm Scheele
date of birth
1742-01-01
member of
Accademia Nazionale delle Scienze detta dei XL
date of death
1786-05-21
Commons gallery
Carl Wilhelm Scheele
name in native language
Carl Wilhelm Scheele
manner of death
natural causes
writing language
German
Sources (2)

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Encyclopedic overview

Carl Wilhelm Scheele ( German: [ˈʃeːlə], Swedish: [ˈɧêːlɛ]; 9 December 1742 – 21 May 1786) was a German-Swedish pharmaceutical chemist.

Scheele discovered oxygen (although Joseph Priestley published his findings first), and identified the elements molybdenum, tungsten, barium, nitrogen, and chlorine, among others. Scheele discovered organic acids tartaric, oxalic, uric, lactic, and citric, as well as hydrofluoric, hydrocyanic, and arsenic acids. He preferred speaking German to Swedish his whole life, as German was commonly spoken among Swedish pharmacists.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Carl Wilhelm Scheele” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.

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