Stockholm, the Atom, and the Nobel Prizes: Berzelius, Scheele, Arrhenius, and the Atomic Nobel Prizes (Sweden)

Abstract

Jakob Berzelius, who devised the modern symbols for the elements, determined many atomic weights and provided numerous examples of the Law of Definite Proportions, is honored in the beautiful Berzelius Square. Carl Wilhelm Scheele, a research pharmacist who had a hand in discovering five elements including oxygen, for which he is often listed as a co-discoverer, is honored in a replica of his pharmacy in Skansen Park. Svante Arrhenius's dissociation theory was initially ridiculed when he proposed it in his PhD thesis, but he won the third Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the very same thesis. Interpersonal and international politics, particularly in the hands of the vengeful Arrhenius, had an unduly strong hand in denying an award to Mendeleev and determining the conditions under which Rutherford, Ostwald, Curie, Planck, Einstein, and many others received their recognitions. The “Einstein Dilemma” involved virulent anti-Semitism and the “Hahn/Meitner Debacle” resulted in Meitner unjustly being denied a prize. We visit the Stockholm Concert Hall and the City Hall where the Nobel Prizes are awarded and celebrated and then the Nobel Prize Museum, which we visit knowingly aware of the stories behind these awards. We also visit the Alfred Nobel Björkborn in nearby Karlskoga.