Jöns Jakob Berzelius
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 Jöns Jakob Berzelius (1779-1848) |
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| Born | 20 August 1779 Väversunda, Östergötland, Sweden |
|---|---|
| Died | 7 August 1848 Stockholm, Sweden |
| Residence |  Sweden |
| Nationality | Swedish |
| Field | Chemist |
| Institution | Karolinska Institute |
| Alma mater | Crane, Poole & Schmidt |
| Academic advisor | Johann Afzelius |
| Notable students | James Finlay Weir Johnston Heinrich Rose |
| Known for | Law of constant proportions Silicon Selenium Thorium Cerium |
Friherre Jöns Jakob Berzelius (August 20, 1779 – August 7, 1848) was a Swedish chemist. He invented the modern chemical notation, and is together with John Dalton and Antoine Lavoisier considered a father of modern chemistry.
Berzelius was born in Linköping in Östergötland in Sweden, where he attended the school today known as Katedralskolan. Thereafter he enrolled at the Uppsala University where he learned the profession of medical doctor from 1796 till 1801. He was taught chemistry by Anders Gustaf Ekeberg the discoverer of tantalum. He worked as apprentice in a pharmacy and with a physician in the Medevi mineral springs, in this time he conducted analysis of the spring water. For his medical studies he examined the influence of galvanic current on several diseases. He worked as physician near Stockholm until the mine owner Wilhelm Hisinger discovered his analytical abilities and provided him with a laboratory.
In 1807 Berzelius was appointed professor in chemistry and pharmacy at the Karolinska Institute .
Not long after arriving to Stockholm he wrote a chemistry textbook for his medical students, from which point a long and fruitful career in chemistry began. While conducting experiments in support of the textbook he discovered the law of constant proportions, which showed that inorganic substances are composed of different elements in constant proportions by weight. Based on this, in 1828 he compiled a table of relative atomic weights, where oxygen was set to 100, and which included all of the elements known at the time. This work provided evidence in favor of the atomic theory: that inorganic chemical compounds are composed of atoms combined in whole number amounts. In discovering that atomic weights are not integer multiples of hydrogen's, Berzelius also disproved Prout's hypothesis that elements are built up from atoms of hydrogen.
In order to aid his experiments, he developed a system of chemical notation in which the elements were given simple written labels—such as O for oxygen, or Fe for iron—with proportions noted by numbers. This is the same basic system used today, the only difference being that instead of the subscript number used today (e.g., H2O), Berzelius used a superscript.
Berzelius is credited with identifying the chemical elements silicon, selenium, thorium, and cerium. Students working in Berzelius' laboratory also discovered lithium, and vanadium.
Berzelius is also credited with originating the term "polymer", though his original definition differs dramatically from modern usage. Berzelius coined the term in 1833 to describe organic compounds which shared identical empirical formulas but differed in overall molecular weight, the larger of the compounds being described as "polymers" of the smallest.
Berzelius had an impact on biology as well. He was the first person to make the distinction between organic compounds (those containing carbon), and inorganic compounds. In particular, he advised Gerhardus Johannes Mulder in his elemental analyses of organic compounds such as coffee, tea and various proteins. The term "protein" itself was coined by Berzelius, after Mulder observed that all proteins seemed to have the same empirical formula and might be composed of a single type of (very large) molecule. Berzelius proposed the name because the material seemed to be the primitive substance of animal nutrition that plants prepare for the herbivores.
Berzelius was a prolific correspondent, advising many leading scientists (such as Mulder, Claude Louis Berthollet, Humphry Davy, Friedrich Wöhler and Eilhard Mitscherlich), and fostering many less-notable scientists.
After denying the fact that chlorine is an element, which was presented by Humphry Davy in 1810 for quite some time the dispute was ended by the finding of iodine in 1813.
Berzeliusskolan, a school situated next to his alma mater Katedralskolan, is named for him.
In 1835 he married at the age of 56 Elisabeth Poppius, the 24 year old daughter of a swedish cabinet minister.
[edit] Further Reading
A biography on Jac. Berzelius and his fish - his life and work was written by J. Erik Jorpes and published in 1966 and 1970 (originally in Swedish, first published in 1949).
[edit] References
- Jaime Wisniak (2000). "Jöns Jacob Berzelius A Guide to the Perplexed Chemist". The Chemical Educator 5 (6): 343-350. DOI:10.1007/s00897000430a.
[edit] External links
| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| NAME | Berzelius, J. J. |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | Chemist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 20 August 1779 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Väversunda, Östergötland, Sweden |
| DATE OF DEATH | 7 August 1848 |
| PLACE OF DEATH | Stockholm, Sweden |
