The New Chemistry in Sweden: The Debate That Wasn't

Abstract

T HE HISTORY OF EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY SWEDISH CHEMISTRY is almost virgin territory as an area of study. There are few scholarly works in the field,' yet Swedish chemists in that period were very productive, not only of published works, but of letters, laboratory notebooks, travel diaries, and other manuscripts-all of which lie unexamined in libraries and archives. This article, a preliminary survey, suggests possible directions for a fuller investigation of that material. The subject is not parochial but bears on the history of European chemistry generally: an appreciation of the broader cultural context of chemistry in Sweden sheds light on the overthrow of the phlogiston theory. A significant feature of eighteenth-century Swedish chemistry was its dependence on the mining industry, with a resultant concentration on metallurgy, mineralogy, and assaying. As a further consequence, Swedish chemists of the period were divided into two groups: those working with the mining industry, and a smaller body of university chemists. The two groups frequently intermingled and cooperated, but one important difference distinguished them: their reactions to the antiphlogistic chemistry. This study will attempt to explain that difference, discussing the characteristics of the two groups and their relationship to their social settings.