Do you know who discovered oxygen? A philosophical person’s answer may be GOD!
A knowledgeable one will say Joseph Priestley (Since PRIEST is in the name so may be the philosophical person was partially true!)
Then do you know who discovered Chlorine? Again a knowledgeable person may say it is Sir Humphry Davy! In GK competitions even I have jumped and uttered all these!
Trust Bill Bryson to come and break this bubble!
We were wrong! Not only oxygen or Chlorine, even elements like nitrogen and multiple other elements were actually DISCOVERED by one scientist who was brilliant but most unfortunate and many may not even have heard his name!
That was Carl Wilhelm Scheele!
He was a brilliant German-Swedish pharmaceutical chemist whose extraordinary knack for isolating chemical elements earned him a reputation as one of history’s most prolific—yet unluckiest—scientists!
Despite discovering oxygen, chlorine, nitrogen, and multiple other elements, he frequently lost historical credit to others because of publishing delays and his adherence to outdated scientific theories!
Scheele didn’t just discover oxygen; his experimental skills allowed him to isolate or identify an astonishing array of elements and compounds!
He discovered Oxygen which he called the called “fire air”!, then Chlorine (which he thought was a compound), Molybdenum, Tungsten, Barium, and Nitrogen!
The list does not end here!
He also discovered and created and in some cases isolated for the first time; Tartaric acid, oxalic, uric, lactic, and citric acids, alongside highly toxic hydrofluoric, hydrocyanic (cyanide), and arsenic acids!
Scheele’s Green is actually copper arsenite which is a vibrant pigment widely used in Victorian wallpapers and fabrics before its extreme arsenic toxicity was fully understood!
So he did discover or isolate these compounds but then why don’t we know about him! Or why he does not get credit for the same!?
Well It is because of two reasons!
First was the Publishing Curse! He routinely discovered elements years before anyone else, only to have his work sit on a publisher’s desk. Because of this, Joseph Priestley gets credit for oxygen, and Sir Humphry Davy gets credit for chlorine!
Then his pretty scary habit which leads to his Death by His Own Discoveries!
In the 18th century, chemists routinely smelled and tasted new compounds!
Scheele worked closely with heavy metals and lethal chemicals like arsenic and cyanide! He died at just 43 years old, in the middle of his lab sorrounded by a range of toxic chemicals any of which could have killed him!
Moral of the story!?
Document your findings; well, document everything! And DO NOT smell or taste a new compound!
Also try to have a clear mind! You can use a Kumar Sanu song to clear it!
Do read about Scheele though….he deserves some credit…
Shubh ratri…
