Editing Carl Wilhelm Scheele

{{short description|Swedish German chemist who discovered oxygen (1742–1786)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2024}}
{{Infobox scientist
|name              = Carl Wilhelm Scheele
|image             = File:Carl-Wilhelm-Scheele-Swedish-German-1780.webp
|image_size        = 250px
|caption           = An interpretation of Scheele from the late 19th or early 20th century as no contemporary portraits of him are known (by [[xylographer]] Ida Amanda Maria Falander (1842–1927))<ref>Gentz, L. "Hur såg Scheele ut?", Svensk Farmaceutisk Tidskrift 1958 (17) 373–394; erroneously dated 1780 in Wikimedia Commons</ref>
|birth_date        = {{Birth date|1742|12|9|df=yes}}
|birth_place       = [[Stralsund]], [[Swedish Pomerania]]
|death_date        = {{Death date and age|1786|5|21|1742|12|9|df=yes}}
|death_place       = [[Köping, Sweden|Köping]], Sweden
|residence         =
|citizenship       =
|nationality       = [[German people|German]]-[[Swedish people|Swedish]]
|ethnicity         =
|field = [[Chemistry]]
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|alma_mater        =
|doctoral_advisor  =
|doctoral_students =
|known_for         = Discovered [[oxygen]] (independently), [[molybdenum]], [[manganese]], [[barium]], [[chlorine]], [[tungsten]] and more
|author_abbrev_bot =
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}}

'''Carl Wilhelm Scheele''' ({{IPA|de|ˈʃeːlə|lang}}, {{IPA|sv|ˈɧêːlɛ|lang}}; 9 December 1742 – 21 May 1786<ref name="Castle 1886"/>) was a [[Swedish Pomerania|German-Swedish]]<ref>{{Cite web |last=Lundgren |first=Anders |title=Carl Wilhelm Scheele |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Carl-Wilhelm-Scheele |publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica}}</ref> 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 acid|tartaric]], [[Oxalic acid|oxalic]], [[Uric acid|uric]], [[Lactic acid|lactic]], and [[Citric acid|citric]], as well as [[Hydrofluoric acid|hydrofluoric]], [[Hydrocyanic acid|hydrocyanic]], and [[Arsenic acid|arsenic]] acids.<ref>Richard Myers, [https://books.google.com/books?id=oS50J3-IfZsC ''The Basics of Chemistry''] (2003)</ref> He preferred speaking German to Swedish his whole life, as German was commonly spoken among Swedish pharmacists.<ref name="Fors, Hjalmar 2008">Fors, Hjalmar 2008. "Stepping through Science’s Door: C. W. Scheele, from Pharmacist's Apprentice to Man of Science". Ambix 55: 29–49</ref>

==Biography==
Scheele was born in [[Stralsund]],<ref name="Castle 1886"/> in western Pomerania, which at the time was a [[Dominions of Sweden|Swedish Dominion]] inside the Holy Roman Empire. Scheele's father, Joachim (or Johann<ref name="Castle 1886"/>) Christian Scheele, was a grain dealer and brewer<ref name="Castle 1886"/> from a respected Pomeranian family.{{Citation needed|date=March 2021}} His mother was Margaretha Eleanore Warnekros.<ref name="Castle 1886"/>

Friends of Scheele's parents taught him the art of reading prescriptions and the meaning of chemical and pharmaceutical signs.<ref name="Castle 1886">{{Cite journal|title=Carl Wilhelm Scheele|journal=American Druggist|url=https://archive.org/details/americandruggis15unkngoog/page/n167/mode/1up|volume=15|pages=157–158|issue=August|year=1886|editor-last=Castle|editor-first=Fred'k A.|location=New York|language=en|editor2-last=Rice|editor2-first=Chas|access-date=8 March 2021}}</ref> Then, in 1757, at the age of fourteen, Carl was sent to [[Gothenburg]] as an apprentice [[pharmacist]]<ref name="Fors, Hjalmar 2008" /> to another family friend and apothecary, Martin Andreas Bauch. Scheele retained this position for eight years. During this time he ran experiments late into the night and read the works of [[Nicolas Lemery]], [[Caspar Neumann (chemist)|Caspar Neumann]], [[Johann von Löwenstern-Kunckel]] and [[Georg Ernst Stahl]] (the champion of the [[phlogiston theory]]). Much of Scheele's later theoretical speculations were based upon Stahl.<ref name="Castle 1886"/>

In 1765 Scheele worked under the progressive and well-informed apothecary C. M. Kjellström in [[Malmö]], and became acquainted with [[Anders Jahan Retzius]] who was a lecturer at the [[University of Lund]] and later a professor of chemistry at Stockholm. Scheele arrived in [[Stockholm]] between 1767 and 1769 and worked as a pharmacist.<ref name="Castle 1886"/> During this period he discovered [[tartaric acid]] and with his friend, Retzius, studied the relation of [[Calcium oxide|quicklime]] to [[calcium carbonate]].<ref name="Castle 1886"/> While in the capital, he also became acquainted with figures including [[Abraham Bäck]], [[Peter Jonas Bergius]], [[Bengt Bergius]] and [[Carl Friedreich von Schultzenheim]].<ref name="Castle 1886"/>

In the fall of 1770 Scheele became director of the laboratory of the great pharmacy of Locke, at [[Uppsala]], about 65 km (40 mi) north of Stockholm. The laboratory supplied chemicals to Professor of Chemistry [[Torbern Bergman]]. A friendship developed between Scheele and Bergman after Scheele analyzed a reaction which Bergman and his assistant, [[Johan Gottlieb Gahn]], could not resolve. The reaction was between melted [[saltpetre]] and [[acetic acid]] that produced a red vapor.<ref name="Castle 1886"/><ref>Scheele found that when potassium nitrite (KNO<sub>2</sub>) was reacted with acetic acid, nitrogen dioxide was produced.  See:  {{cite book |last1=Lennartson |first1=Anders |title=Carl Wilhelm Scheele and Torbern Bergman: The Science, Lives and Friendship of Two Pioneers in Chemistry |date=2020 |publisher=Springer Nature Switzerland AG |location=Cham, Switzerland |pages=101–104 |isbn=9783030491949 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cmr6DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA101}}</ref> Further study of this reaction later led to Scheele's discovery of oxygen (see "The theory of phlogiston" below). Based upon this friendship and respect, Scheele was given free use of Bergman's laboratory. Both men were profiting from their working relationship. In 1774 Scheele was nominated by Peter Jonas Bergius to be a member of the [[Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences]] and was elected 4 February 1775.<ref name="Castle 1886"/> In 1775 Scheele also managed for a short time a pharmacy in [[Köping, Sweden|Köping]]. Between the end of 1776 and the beginning of 1777 Scheele established his own business there.<ref name="Castle 1886"/>

On 29 October 1777, Scheele took his seat for the first and only time at a meeting of the Academy of Sciences and on 11 November passed the examination as apothecary before the Royal Medical College, doing so with the highest honours. After his return to Köping he devoted himself, outside of his business, to scientific researches which resulted in a long series of important papers.<ref name="Castle 1886"/>

[[Isaac Asimov]] called him "hard-luck Scheele" because he made a number of chemical discoveries that were later credited to others.{{cn|date=April 2021}}

==Existing theories before Scheele==

By the time he was a teenager, Scheele had learned the dominant theory of gases which in the 1770s was the phlogiston theory. Phlogiston, classified as "matter of fire", was supposed to be released from any burning material, and when it was exhausted, combustion would stop. When Scheele discovered [[oxygen]] he called it "fire air" as it supported combustion. Scheele explained oxygen using phlogistical terms because he did not believe that his discovery disproved the phlogiston theory.

Before Scheele made his discovery of oxygen, he studied air.  [[Air]] was thought to be an element that made up the environment in which [[chemical reactions]] took place but did not interfere with the reactions. Scheele's investigation of air enabled him to conclude that air was a mixture of "fire air" and "foul air"; in other words, a mixture of two gases.  Scheele performed numerous experiments in which he heated substances such as saltpetre ([[potassium nitrate]]), [[manganese dioxide]], heavy metal nitrates, [[silver carbonate]] and [[mercuric oxide]]. In all of these experiments, he isolated the same gas: his "fire air", which he believed combined with phlogiston in materials to be released during heat-releasing reactions.

However, his first publication, ''Chemische Abhandlung von der Luft und dem Feuer'', was delivered to the printer Swederus in 1775, but not published until 1777, at which time both [[Joseph Priestley]] and [[Antoine Lavoisier]] had already published their experimental data and conclusions concerning oxygen and the phlogiston theory. Scheele was credited for finding oxygen with two other people, Joseph Priestley and Antoine Lavoisier. The first English edition, ''Chemical Observation and Experiments on Air and Fire'' was published in 1780, with an introduction "Chemical Treatise on Air and Fire".<ref>p101, A Source Book in Chemistry, 1400–1900, Henry Marshall Leicester, Herbert S. Klickstein – 1969</ref>

==The theory of phlogiston==
[[File:ScheeleRoyalSwdAcadChemObservatnsAir&Fire.jpg|thumb|330px|Engraving on the title page of Scheele's ''Chemical Treatise on Air and Fire'' (1777) <br>(''d. Königl. Schwed. Acad. d. Wissenschaft Mitgliedes, Chemische Abhandlung von der Luft und dem Feuer'')]] {{main|Phlogiston theory}}Scheele achieved astonishingly prolific and important results without the expensive laboratory equipment to which his Parisian contemporary Antoine Lavoisier was accustomed.  Through the studies of Lavoisier, Priestley, Scheele, and others, [[chemistry]] was made a standardized field with consistent procedures. Although Scheele was unable to grasp the significance of his discovery of the substance that Lavoisier later named oxygen, his work was essential for the abandonment of the long-held theory of phlogiston.<ref>{{cite book |author=J. R. Partington|title=A History of Chemistry, vol. 3|publisher=Macmillan|year=1962|pages=205–236}}</ref>

Scheele's study of the gas not yet named oxygen was prompted by a complaint by [[Torbern Olof Bergman]], a professor at [[Uppsala University]] who would eventually become Scheele's friend. Bergman informed Scheele that the saltpeter he had purchased from Scheele's employer, after long heating, produced red vapors (now known to be nitrogen dioxide) when it came into contact with acetic acid. Scheele's quick explanation was that the saltpeter had absorbed phlogiston with the heat (had been reduced to nitrite, in modern terms) and gave off a new phlogisticated gas as an active principle when combined with an acid (even a weak acid).

Bergman next suggested that Scheele analyze the properties of [[manganese(IV) oxide]].  It was through his studies of manganese(IV) oxide that Scheele developed his concept of "fire air" (his name for oxygen). He ultimately obtained oxygen by heating mercuric oxide, [[silver carbonate]], [[magnesium nitrate]], and other [[nitrate]] salts. Scheele wrote about his findings to Lavoisier who was able to see the significance of the results.  His discovery of oxygen (ca. 1771) was chronologically earlier than the corresponding work of Priestley and Lavoisier, but he did not publish this discovery until 1777, after both of his rivals had published.<ref>{{cite book |author=J. R. Partington|title=A History of Chemistry, vol. 3|publisher=Macmillan|year=1962|pages=219–220}}</ref>

Although Scheele would always believe in some form of the phlogiston theory, his work reduced phlogiston to an unusually simple form, complicated only by the fact that chemists of Scheele's day still believed that light and heat were elements and were to be found in combination with them. Thus, Scheele assumed that hydrogen was composed of phlogiston (a reducing principle lost when objects were burned) plus heat. Scheele speculated that his fire air or oxygen (which he found the active part of air, estimating it to compose one quarter of air) combined with the phlogiston in objects to produce either light or heat (light and heat were presumed to be composed of differing proportions of phlogiston and oxygen).

When other chemists later showed water is produced when burning hydrogen and that rusting of metals added weight to them and that passing water over hot iron gave hydrogen, Scheele modified his theory to suggest that oxygen was the salt (or "saline principle" of water), and that when added to iron, water was reproduced, which added weight to the iron as rust.

[[File:Pyrolusite radiating.jpg|thumb|146px|left|[[Pyrolusite]] or MnO<sub>2</sub>.]]

==New elements and compounds==
In addition to his joint recognition for the discovery of oxygen, Scheele is argued to have been the first to discover other chemical elements such as [[barium]] (1772),<ref>Scheele's laboratory notebooks show that during 1771–1772, he observed a "''besondere Erde''" (peculiar earth [i.e., metal oxide]) in pyrolusite (an ore that contains mainly manganese dioxide, MnO<sub>2</sub>).  See: {{cite book |last1=Scheele |first1=Carl Wilhelm |editor1-last=Nordenskiöld |editor1-first=A.E. |title=Carl Wilhelm Scheele: Nachgelassene Briefe und Aufzeichnungen |trans-title=Carl Wilhelm Scheele: Posthumously published letters and notes |date=1892 |publisher=P.A. Norstedt & Söner |location=Stockholm|page=457 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vo06AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA45 |language=de, la}}  From p. 457:  "''In Gewächsen muss die besondere Erde, welche aus ''magn. nigra et acidis'' … mit ''acido vitrioli'' ein solches Præcipitat.''" (In plants, [there] must be present the peculiar earth [i.e., metal oxide], which arises from magnesia nigra [i.e., pyrolusite] and acid via precipitation with oil of vitriol [i.e., concentrated sulfuric acid], for plant ash which is well rinsed so that all potassium sulfate disappears, gives – [when it's] dissolved with nitric acid and salt acid [i.e., hydrochloric acid] – such a precipitate [when it's treated] with sulfuric acid.)  See also pp. 455, 456, and 461.
* In 1774, Scheele further investigated barium in pyrolusite:  {{cite journal |last1=Scheele |title=Om brunsten, eller magnesia, och dess egenskaper |journal=Kongliga Vetenskaps Academiens Handlingar (Proceedings of the Royal Scientific Academy [of Sweden]) |date=1774 |volume=35 |pages=89–116 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5ME4AAAAMAAJ&pg=PA90-IA5 |trans-title=On brown-stone [i.e., pyrolusite] or magnesia, and its properties |language=Swedish}}  From p. 102:  ''"4:to Något af en ny Jord-art, hvilken, så mycket jag vet, ännu är obekant."''  (4th Something of a new type of ore [i.e., mineral], which, as far as I know, is still unknown.)  From p. 112:  ''"Den besynnerliga Jord-arten, som visar sig vid alla klara uplösningar af Brunstenen, hvarom något är anfördt i 18. §."'' (This peculiar type of ore [i.e., mineral] appears in all clear solutions of brown-stone, concerning which something is stated in section 18.)</ref> [[manganese]] (1774),<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Scheele |title=Om brunsten, eller magnesia, och dess egenskaper |journal=Kongliga Vetenskaps Academiens Handlingar (Proceedings of the Royal Scientific Academy [of Sweden]) |date=1774 |volume=35 |pages=89–116 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5ME4AAAAMAAJ&pg=PA90-IA5 |trans-title=On brown-stone [i.e., pyrolusite] or magnesia, and its properties |language=Swedish}}</ref> [[molybdenum]] (1778),<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Scheele |first1=Carl Wilhelm |title=Försök med Blyerts, Molybdæna |journal=Kongliga Vetenskaps Academiens Handlingar |date=1778 |volume=39 |pages=247–255 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=58E4AAAAMAAJ&pg=RA1-PA247 |trans-title=Experiment with lead, molybdæna |language=Swedish}}</ref> and [[tungsten]] (1781),<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Scheele |first1=Carl Wilhelm |title=Tungstens bestånds-delar |journal=Kongliga Vetenskaps Academiens Nya Handlingar (New Proceedings of the Royal Academy of Sciences [of Sweden]) |date=1781 |volume=2 |pages=89–95 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=enVJAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA91 |trans-title=Tungsten's constituent components |language=Swedish}}</ref> as well as several chemical compounds, including [[citric acid]],<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Scheele |first1=Carl Wilhelm |title=Anmärkning om Citron-Saft, samt sätt att crystallisera den samma |journal=Kongliga Vetenskaps Academiens Nya Handlingar (New Proceedings of the Royal Academy of Science) |date=1784 |volume=5 |pages=105–109 |trans-title=Note on lemon juice, as well as ways to crystallize the same |language=Swedish}}</ref> [[lactic acid]],<ref name="Scheele 1780 Mjölk">{{cite journal |last1=Scheele |first1=Carl Wilhelm |title=Om Mjölk och dess syra |journal=Kongliga Vetenskaps Academiens Nya Handlingar (New Proceedings of the Royal Academy of Science) |date=1780 |volume=1 |pages=116–124 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9N84AAAAMAAJ&pg=PA116 |trans-title=About milk and its acid |language=Swedish}}</ref> [[glycerol]],<ref name="Scheele 1783 Fettmor">{{cite journal |last1=Scheele |first1=Carl Wilhelm |title=Rön beträffande ett särskilt Socker-Ämne uti exprimerade Oljor och Fettmor |journal=Kongliga Vetenskaps Academiens Nya Handlingar (New Proceedings of the Royal Academy of Science) |date=1783 |volume=4 |pages=324–329 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tXVJAAAAcAAJ&q=Scheele&pg=PA324 |trans-title=Findings concerning a particular sweet substance in expressed oils and fatty substances |language=Swedish}}</ref> [[hydrogen cyanide]] (also known, in aqueous solution, as prussic acid),<ref name="Scheele 1782 Berlinerblå">See:
*  {{cite journal |last1=Scheele |first1=Carl W. |title=Försök, beträffande det färgande ämnet uti Berlinerblå |journal=Kongliga Vetenskaps Academiens Nya Handlingar (New Proceedings of the Royal Academy of Science [of Sweden] |date=1782 |volume=3 |pages=264–275 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mHVJAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA264 |trans-title=Experiment concerning the coloring substance in Berlin blue |language=Swedish}}
*  Reprinted in Latin as:  {{cite book |last1=Scheele |first1=Carl Wilhelm |last2=Schäfer |first2=Gottfried Heinrich, trans. |editor1-last=Hebenstreit |editor1-first=Ernst Benjamin Gottlieb |title=Opuscula Chemica et Physica |trans-title=Chemical and Physical Works |date=1789 |publisher=Johann Godfried Müller |location=Leipzig (Lipsiae), (Germany) |volume=2 |pages=148–174 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BLo5AAAAcAAJ&pg=PA148 |language=Latin |chapter=De materia tingente caerulei berolinensis}}</ref> [[hydrogen fluoride]],<ref>Scheele (1771) [https://books.google.com/books?id=d984AAAAMAAJ&pg=PA120 "Undersŏkning om fluss-spat och dess syra"] (Investigation of fluorite and its acid), ''Kongliga Vetenskaps Academiens Handlingar'' (Proceedings of the Royal Academy of Science [of Sweden]), '''32''' :  129–138.</ref> and [[hydrogen sulfide]] (1777).<ref>{{cite book |last1=Scheele |first1=Carl Wilhelm |title=Chemische Abhandlung von der Luft und dem Feuer |trans-title=Chemical treatise on air and fire |date=1777 |publisher=Magnus Swederus |location=Upsala, Sweden |pages=149–155 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=beoTAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA149 |language=German}}  See:  § 97.  ''Die stinckende Schwefel Luft'' (The stinking sulfur air [i.e., gas]).</ref> In addition, he discovered a process similar to [[pasteurization]],<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Scheele |first1=Carl Wilhelm |title=Anmärkningar om sättet att conserva ättika |journal=Kongliga Vetenskaps Academiens Nya Handlingar (New Proceedings of the Royal Academy of Science) |date=1782 |volume=3 |pages=120–122 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mHVJAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA120 |trans-title=Notes on the way to preserve vinegar |language=Swedish}}</ref> along with a means of mass-producing [[phosphorus]] (1769), leading Sweden to become one of the world's leading producers of [[matches]].
[[File:Chlorine-sample.jpg|thumb|right|100px|Chlorine gas]]

Scheele made one other very important scientific discovery in 1774, arguably more revolutionary than his isolation of oxygen.  He identified [[Lime (mineral)|lime]], [[silica]], and [[iron]] in a specimen of [[pyrolusite]] (impure manganese dioxide) given to him by his friend, [[Johann Gottlieb Gahn]], but could not identify an additional component (this was the manganese, which Scheele recognized was present as a new element, but could not isolate). When he treated the pyrolusite with [[hydrochloric acid]] over a warm sand bath, a yellow-green gas with a strong odor was produced.<ref>See:
*  {{cite journal |last1=Scheele |title=Om brunsten, eller magnesia, och dess egenskaper |journal=Kongliga Vetenskaps Academiens Handlingar (Proceedings of the Royal Scientific Academy [of Sweden] |date=1774 |volume=35 |pages=89–116 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5ME4AAAAMAAJ&pg=PA90-IA5 |trans-title=On pyrolusite or magnesia, and its properties |language=Swedish}}  On pages 93–94 (paragraph 6), "Med den vanliga Salt-syran." ([Reactions of manganese dioxide] with the standard salt-acid [i.e., hydrochloric acid]), Scheele describes a gas (chlorine) that was produced when he reacted manganese dioxide with hydrochloric acid.  Further experiments with chlorine appear in paragraphs 23–26, pp. 105–110.
*  An English translation of the relevant passages about chlorine from Scheele's article appears in:  {{cite book |last1=Leicester |first1=Henry M. |title=A Source Book in Chemistry, 1400–1900 |date=1952 |publisher=McGraw-Hill |location=New York, New York, USA |pages=109–110 |isbn=9780674822306 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zXZKfpRHLCcC&pg=PA109}}</ref>  He found that the gas sank to the bottom of an open bottle and was denser than ordinary air. He also noted that the gas was not soluble in water. It turned corks a yellow color and removed all color from wet, blue litmus paper and some flowers. He called this gas with bleaching abilities, "dephlogisticated muriatic acid" (dephlogisticated hydrochloric acid, or oxidized hydrochloric acid). Eventually, Sir [[Humphry Davy]] named the gas [[chlorine]], with reference to its pale green colour.

Chlorine's bleaching properties were eventually turned into an industry by [[Jöns Jacob Berzelius|Berzelius]], and became the foundation of a second industry of disinfection and deodorization of putrefied tissue and wounds (including wounds in living humans) in the hands of [[Antoine Labarraque|Labarraque]], by 1824.

==Death==
[[File:Carl Wilhelm Scheele in Köping.JPG|thumb|200px|Statue of Scheele in [[Köping, Sweden|Köping]], Sweden]]

In the fall of 1785, Scheele began to suffer from symptoms described as kidney disease.<ref name="Castle 1886"/> In early 1786, he also contracted a disease of the skin, which, combined with his kidney problems, so enfeebled him that he could foresee an early death. With that in mind, he married the widow of his predecessor,<ref name="Castle 1886"/> Pohl, two days before he died, so that he could pass undisputed title to his pharmacy and his possessions to her.

While Scheele's experiments generated substances which have long since been found to be hazardous, the compounds and elements he used to start his experiments were dangerous to begin with, especially [[heavy metals]]. Like most of his contemporaries, in an age where there were few methods of chemical characterisation, Scheele would smell and taste any new substances he discovered.<ref name=Asimov>
Asimov, Isaac (1966). ''The Noble Gases''. {{ISBN|978-0465051298}}</ref> Cumulative exposure to [[arsenic]], [[mercury (element)|mercury]], [[lead]], and their [[chemical compound|compounds]] and, perhaps, [[hydrofluoric acid]], which he had discovered, as well as other substances, took their toll on Scheele. He died at the early age of 43, on 21 May 1786, at his home in [[Köping, Sweden|Köping]]. Doctors said that he died of [[mercury poisoning]].{{cn|date=August 2023}} 

==Published papers==
[[File:Mémoires de chymie Scheele RGNb10364341.02.vol I.tp 1785.tif | thumb | right | ''Mémoires de chymie'', 1785, French translation by  Mme. [[Claudine Picardet]]]] 
[[File:Scheele, Carl Wilhelm – Early history of chlorine, 1944 – BEIC 7863226.jpg|thumb|''Early history of chlorine'', 1944]]
All of the following papers were published by Scheele within a span of fifteen years.<ref name="Castle 1886"/>
{{columns-list|colwidth=30em|
# (1771) [[Fluorite|Fluospar]] and its Acid
# (1774) "Braunstein" or Magnesia [ [[Manganese]] ], two papers
# (1775) Benzoin Salt [ [[Benzoic Acid]] ]
# [[Arsenic]] and its Acid
# [[Silica]], [[Alumina]], and [[Alum]]
# Urinary Calculi
# (1777) Chemical Treatise on Air and Fire
# (1778) Wet Process for Preparing Mercurius dulcis [ [[Mercury(I) chloride|Calomel]] ]
# Simple Process for Preparing Pulvis Algarothi [ oxychloride of antimony ]
# [[Molybdenum]]
# (1778) Preparation of a New Green Color<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Scheele |first1=Carl Wilhelm |title=Tilrednings-saettet af en ny groen Faerg |journal=Kungliga Vetenskaps Akademiens Handlingar |date=1778 |volume=39 |pages=327–328 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/178460#page/355/mode/1up |trans-title=Method of preparation of a new green color |language=Swedish}}</ref>
# (1779) On the Quantity of Pure Air daily present in the Atmosphere
# Decomposition of Neutral Salts by Lime or Iron
# [[Plumbago (disambiguation)|Plumbago]]<!-- uncertain to what it refers to -->
# [[Baryte|Heavy spar]]
# (1780) Fluospar
# Milk and its Acid<ref name="Scheele 1780 Mjölk" />
# Acid of Milk sugar
# On the Relationship of Bodies
# (1781) [[Tungsten]]
# The Combustible Substance in Crude Lime
# Preparation of [[White Lead]]
# (1782) [[Ether]]
# Preservation of [[Vinegar]]
# Coloring Matter in Berlin Blue<ref name="Scheele 1782 Berlinerblå" />
# (1783) Berlin Blue
# Peculiar Sweet Principle from Oils and Fats [ [[Glycerin]] ]<ref name="Scheele 1783 Fettmor" />
# (1784) Attempt to Crystallize Lemon juice
# Constituents of Rhubarb-earth [ [[Calcium Oxalate]] ] and Preparation of Acetosella Acid [ [[Oxalic Acid]] ]
# The Coloring "Middle-salt" of "Blood lye" [Yellow Prussiate of Potassium]
# Air-acid [ [[Carbonic Acid]] ]; Benzoic Acid. Lapis infernalis<ref name="Castle 1886"/> ("Air-acid" is [[Carbon dioxide]])
# Sweet Principle from Oils and Fats. Air-acid
# (1785) Acid of Fruits, especially of Raspberry
# [[Iron(III) phosphate|Phosphate of Iron]]; and Pearl-salt
# Occurrence of Rhubarb-earth [see 29] in various Plants
# Preparation of [[Magnesium oxide|Magnesia alba]]
# Fulminating Gold. Corn oil [ [[Fusel oil]] ]. Calomel
# Air-acid
# Lead [[Amalgam (chemistry)|amalgam]]
# [[Ethyl acetate|Vinegar-naphtha]]
# Lime. [[Ammonia]] or Volatile Alkali
# [[Malic Acid]] and [[Citric acid|Citric Acid]]
# Air, Fire, and Water
# (1786) The Essential Salt of Galls [ [[Gallic Acid]] ]
# [[Nitric Acid]]
# Oxide of Lead. [[Oleum|Fuming Sulphuric Acid]]
# [[Pyrophorus]]
# Peculiarities of [[Hydrofluoric Acid]].
}}

Scheele's papers appeared first in the ''Transactions'' of the Swedish Academy of Sciences, and in various periodicals such as [[Lorenz Florenz Friedrich von Crell]]'s ''[[Crell's Annalen|Chemische Annalen]]''.  Scheele's work was collected and published in four languages beginning with ''Mémoires de Chymie''  by Mme. [[Claudine Picardet]] in 1785 and ''Chemical Essays'' by [[Thomas Beddoes]] in  1786, followed by Latin and German.<ref name="Ferguson">{{cite web|last1=Ferguson|first1=John|title=Karl Wilhelm Scheele|url=http://www.1902encyclopedia.com/S/SCH/karl-wilhelm-scheele.html|website=Encyclopaedia Britannica|publisher=1902|access-date=8 December 2017}}</ref>
Another English translation was published by [[Leonard Dobbin (chemist)|Dr Leonard Dobbin]], in 1931.<ref>Journal of the Chemical Society: obituaries (L Dobbin), 1952</ref>

==See also==
*[[Scheelite]]
*[[Scheele's Green]]
*[[Pharmacy]]
*[[Pneumatic chemistry]]
*[[List of independent discoveries#18th century|List of independent discoveries]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
*{{cite book | author= Abbott, David. | title=Biographical Dictionary of Scientists: Chemists | url= https://archive.org/details/biographicaldict00abbo | url-access= registration | location= New York | publisher=Peter Bedrick Books | year= 1983 | pages=[https://archive.org/details/biographicaldict00abbo/page/126 126]–127 | isbn= 0-911745-81-5 }}
*{{cite book | author=Bell, Madison S. | title=Lavoisier in the Year One | location=New York | publisher=W.W. Norton & Company, Inc | year=2005 | isbn=0-393-05155-2 | url-access=registration | url=https://archive.org/details/lavoisierinyearo00madi }}
*{{cite book | author=Cardwell, D.S.L. | title=From Watt to Clausius: The Rise of Thermodynamics in the Early Industrial Age | location=Heinemann | publisher=London | year=1971 | isbn=0-435-54150-1 | pages=60–61 }}
*{{cite book | author=Dobbin, L. (trans.) | title=Collected Papers of Carl Wilhelm Scheele | year=1931 |publisher=G. Bell & Sons, London}}
*{{cite book | editor-last= Farber | editor-first= Eduard | title=Great Chemists | url= https://archive.org/details/greatchemists00farb | url-access= registration | location= New York | publisher=Interscience Publishers | year=1961 | pages=[https://archive.org/details/greatchemists00farb/page/255 255–261] }}
*{{cite book | author= Greenberg, Arthur. | title= A Chemical History Tour: Picturing Chemistry from Alchemy to Modern Molecular Science | url= https://archive.org/details/chemicalhistoryt0000gree | url-access= registration | location= Hoboken | publisher=John Wiley & Sons, Inc. | year=2000 | pages=[https://archive.org/details/chemicalhistoryt0000gree/page/135 135–137] | isbn= 0-471-35408-2 }}
*{{cite book | author= Greenberg, Arthur. | title= The Art of Chemistry: Myths, Medicines and Materials | location= Hoboken | publisher=John Wiley & Sons, Inc. | year=2003 | pages=161–166 | isbn= 0-471-07180-3 }}
*{{cite book | author= Schofield, Robert E | title=The Enlightened Joseph Priestley: A Study of His Life and Work from 1773–1804 | location=Pennsylvania | publisher=The Pennsylvania State University Press | year=2004 | isbn= 0-271-02459-3}}
*{{cite book | author=Shectman | title=Groundbreaking Scientific Experiments, Inventions, and Discoveries of the 18th Century | url=https://archive.org/details/groundbreakingsc0000shec | url-access=registration | location=Connecticut | publisher=Greenwood Press | year=2003 | isbn=0-313-32015-2}}
*{{cite book | author=Sootin, Harry | title=12 Pioneers of Science| url=https://archive.org/details/12pioneersofscie00soot | url-access=registration | location=New York | publisher=Vanguard Press| year=1960}}

==External links==
{{Commons}}
{{Wikiquote|Chemical Observations and Experiments on Air and Fire}}
*{{Gutenberg author |id=31878}}
*{{Internet Archive author |sname=Carl Wilhelm Scheele}}
*Scheele, [https://books.google.com/books?id=4hLOfWGt0jsC ''Chemical Observations and Experiments on Air and Fire''] (1780 translation)
*[https://web.lemoyne.edu/~giunta/scheele77.html Excerpts from the Chemical Treatise on Air and Fire]
*{{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Scheele, Karl Wilhelm |short=x}}
*[https://books.google.com/books?id=zLk5AAAAcAAJ ''Carl Wilhelm Scheele's d. Königl. Schwed. Acad. d. Wissenschaft Mitgliedes, Chemische Abhandlung von der Luft und dem Feuer''] in German (source of an above lab equipment image)
*{{Cite Nuttall|title=Scheele, Carl Wilhelm |short=x}}
*{{Cite PSM|wstitle= Sketch of Karl Wilhelm Scheele|month-and-year= October 1887|volume=31|pages=839–843}}
*{{Cite PSM|wstitle=The Scheele Monument at Stockholm|month-and-year=March 1893|volume=42|pages=685–688}}
* {{Cite book|author=Scheele, Carl Wilhelm|title=Early history of chlorine|volume=|publisher=Alembic Club|location=Edinburgh|year=1944|language=en|url=https://gutenberg.beic.it/webclient/DeliveryManager?pid=7863226}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Scheele, Carl Wilhelm}}
[[Category:Carl Wilhelm Scheele| ]]
[[Category:1742 births]]
[[Category:1786 deaths]]
[[Category:18th-century German chemists]]
[[Category:18th-century German writers]]
[[Category:18th-century German male writers]]
[[Category:18th-century Swedish writers]]
[[Category:Discoverers of chemical elements]]
[[Category:Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences]]
[[Category:People from Stralsund]]
[[Category:People from Swedish Pomerania]]
[[Category:German emigrants to Sweden]]
[[Category:Deaths by poisoning]]
[[Category:Swedish chemists]]
[[Category:Swedish pharmacists]]
[[Category:Rare earth scientists]]
[[Category:German people of Swedish descent]]