Carl Wilhelm Scheele

Carl Wilhelm Scheele (1742–1786) was a Swedish Pomeranian chemist whose experiments identified oxygen, chlorine, hydrogen cyanide, and numerous other substances.

Oxygen: Oxygen is a chemical element with symbol O and atomic number 8, essential to respiration and combustion. Scheele prepared oxygen before Joseph Priestley published his independent discovery.
Manganese dioxide: Manganese dioxide is an inorganic compound with formula MnO₂, used in pigments, batteries, and chemical reactions. Heating it with oil of vitriol yielded the oxygen Scheele called fire air.
Stralsund: Stralsund is a Baltic port city in present-day northeastern Germany, historically part of Swedish Pomerania. Scheele was born there in 1742, when the city belonged to Swedish Pomerania.
Joseph Priestley: Joseph Priestley (1733–1804) was an English chemist and theologian who published an account of oxygen in 1774. Priestley published his oxygen experiments before Scheele’s account appeared in print.
Chlorine: Chlorine is a reactive chemical element with symbol Cl and atomic number 17. Scheele produced chlorine gas in 1774 by reacting manganese dioxide with hydrochloric acid.
Hydrochloric acid: Hydrochloric acid is a solution of hydrogen chloride in water. Scheele’s reaction of it with manganese dioxide generated chlorine gas.
Apothecary: An apothecary prepared and dispensed medicines, often combining pharmaceutical practice with chemical work. Scheele learned chemistry through apprenticeship in pharmacies rather than university study.
Antoine Lavoisier: Antoine Lavoisier (1743–1794) was a French chemist who established oxygen’s role in combustion and helped found modern chemistry. Lavoisier’s interpretation of oxygen displaced the phlogiston framework Scheele retained.
Hydrogen cyanide: Hydrogen cyanide is a volatile, highly toxic compound with formula HCN. Scheele discovered this compound in 1782 while studying Prussian blue.
Prussian blue: Prussian blue is a deep-blue iron coordination compound used as a pigment and in medicine. Scheele’s analysis of this pigment led to his preparation of hydrogen cyanide.

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