Torbern Bergman, Swedish Chemist
Torbern Olaf Bergman (March 20, 1735 - July 8, 1784) was a Swedish chemist and mineralogist. He then lectured at the University of Uppsala on physics and mathematics. He was a candidate for the professorship of chemistry and mineralogy, but his competitors charged him with ignorance of the subject, because he had never written on it. He shut himself up in a laboratory, and prepared a treatise on the manufacture of alum, which became a standard work. He was appointed a professor of chemistry, and remained at this position for the rest of his life. He contributed to the advancement of quantitative analysis, and he developed a mineral classification scheme based on chemical characteristics and appearance. He is noted for his research on the chemistry of metals, especially bismuth and nickel. He is remembered for his 1775 Dissertation on Elective Attractions, containing the largest chemical affinity tables ever published. He was the first chemist to use the A, B, C (etc.) system of notation for chemical species. He died in 1784 at the age of 49. This image has been colorized
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Affinity Alphabetical Alum Analysis Chemical Chemistry Classification Mineral Mineralogist Mineralogy Notation Olaf Quantitative Scheme
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