Scheele, Carl Wilhelm

Scheele, Carl Wilhelm (1742-1786), Swedish chemist, who is noted for his discovery of a great number of elements, compounds, and chemical reactions.

Scheele was born in Stralsund, Germany, at that time the capital of Swedish Pomerania. He had no formal training in chemistry and studied the elements of science while apprenticed to an apothecary. In 1770 he came under the guidance of the Swedish chemist Torbern Bergman. In 1775 Scheele became the proprietor of a pharmacy in Köping, Sweden, where he continued his chemical research. He is credited with the discovery of the elements chlorine, barium, molybdenum, tungsten, nitrogen, and manganese; he prepared oxygen from various oxides independently of and somewhat before the British chemist Joseph Priestley, who is credited with the discovery of the element. He was the first to prepare many compounds, including tartaric acid, arsine, and hydrogen sulphide. He demonstrated that lactic acid was the acid component of sour milk. He also determined the properties and composition of hydrogen cyanide and those of citric, malic, oxalic, and gallic acids. In 1931 the Collected Papers of Carl Wilhelm Scheele was published.