Beginnings of Greatness in Swedish Chemistry (II) Axel Fredrick Cronstedt (1722-1765)

Abstract

One of the outstanding figures in the history of Swedish chemistry in the eighteenth century was Axel Fredrick Cronstedt, the discoverer of nickel. Cronstedt, like many other prominent Swedish chemists of this time, was associated throughout his career with the Swedish Bureau of Mines or Bergskollegium. Although he died at the early age of 42, he made outstanding contributions both to chemistry and to geology. His t'An Essay Toward a System of Mineralogy was a landmark in the reforming and modernlzing of geology as a science. Ctonstedt was a fervent advocate of the scietific approach to knowledge and is a brilliant example of the men who lived in the Age of Entightenment, the eighteenth century. The decades in the middle of the l8th century were a period of outstanding achievement in several branches of Swedish science. The contribution of the chemist Georg Brandt has been discussed in a previous paper by the author. Another great chemist in Sweden during this period was Axel lEredrick Cronstedt. He was the second of a number of Swedes who were to achieve the honor of discovering a new element, but more important than this to his position as a trailblazer in science was his lnnovation in the use of chemistry as a basis for the classification of minerals.