Scheele, Carl Wilhelm (1742-1786), was a Swedish pharmacist and chemist who made many chemical discoveries. In 1774, he discovered chlorine. He and Joseph Priestley, an English chemist, working independently of each other, discovered oxygen. In 1770, Scheele discovered tartaric acid. He was also the first to obtain pure lactic, oxalic, citric, and hydrofluoric acids. He discovered copper arsenite, known as Scheele’s green; molybdenum; and calcium tungstate, also called scheelite.
Scheele was born in Stralsund, in what is now part of Germany but what was then part of Sweden, probably on Dec. 9 or Dec. 19, 1742. As a boy, he became a pharmacist’s assistant. He later opened his own pharmacy in Koping, Sweden, and made most of his discoveries there. He died in Koping, probably on May 21 or May 26, 1786.
See also Chemistry (The phlogiston theory) ; Chlorine ; Molybdenum ; Oxygen ; Priestley, Joseph .
