Bergman, Tobern Olof

Bergman, Tobern Olo

18th Century
Born: Katrineberg (Sweden), 20 March 1735 
Died: Medevi (Sweden), 8 July 1784
Bergman was a very talented and many-sided scientist who contributed to physics, astronomy, geology and mineralogy, but above all to chemistry. He obtained his doctorate at the University of Uppsala in 1758 and became professor of chemistry in 1767 after Wallerius. Bergman’s main claim to fame is the development of quantitative analysis by the wet way which he first published in 1778 (De analysi aquarium). He also studied carbon dioxide and, based on his thorough chemical knowledge and analytical skills, developed procedures to make artificial mineral waters. Bergman was one of the founders of chemical mineralogy and he also devised an improved version of Geoffrey’s affinity tables. Although Bergman died of tuberculosis before reaching the age of 50, he developed Uppsala to a leading centre of chemistry in Europe. Bergman’s talented students like Scheele, Gadolin, Hjelm and the Elhyar brothers carried on his work. During his lifetime the translation of Bergman’s works, originally published in Latin or Swedish, had been initiated; in France the translator was Gyuton de Morveau.

 Encyclopædia Britannica: Berthollet, Claude Louis
French chemist who was the first to note that the completeness of chemical reactions depends in part upon the masses of the reacting substances.