BERZELIUS, JÖNS JACOB. - Swedish chemist, b. at Våversunda on 20 Aug. 1779, d. at Stockholm on 2 Aug. 1848. Through scientific industry, experimental precision and fervent genius he dominated all the chemists of his time, making important contributions in every field of theoretical and practical chemistry (determination of atomic weights, discovery of new elements, creation of chemical nomenclature, theory of radicals, etc.). He wrote the first great treatise on chemistry, which served as a model for all those who came after him, and he published annual reports on the progress of this science, in which he subjected the chemical works that were being published to objective criticism.
Born poor, he led a modest life; the son of a Protestant pastor, he was of a religious spirit. And in his treatise on chemistry he wished openly to declare his faith in God the creator, inferred from the finality found in every element of nature; and he branded atheism as an illogical theory, incapable of giving us the reason for the facts established by science.
Bibliography4 worksC. L. Kneller, Il Cristianesimo e i naturalisti moderni, Italian trans. by A. Boni, Brescia 1906, pp. 245-47; I. Guareschi, Suppl. ann. Enci
BIBL.: C. L. Kneller, Il Cristianesimo e i naturalisti moderni, Italian trans. by A. Boni, Brescia 1906, pp. 245-47; I. Guareschi, Suppl. ann. Enciclop. di Chimica, 31 (1915), pp. 307-406; A. G. Soderbaum-Buge, Buch der grossen Chemiker, I, Berlin 1920, p. 428; M. Giua, Storia della Chimica, Turin 1946, pp. 128-34.
Provenzal, Giulio. “Berzelius, jöns jacob.” In Enciclopedia Cattolica, vol. II, coll. 1486–1487. Città del Vaticano: Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico, 1949. https://azioneromana.com/article/berzelius-jons-jacob.
MLA
Provenzal, Giulio. “Berzelius, jöns jacob.” Enciclopedia Cattolica, vol. II, Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico, 1949, coll. 1486–1487. Azione Romana, https://azioneromana.com/article/berzelius-jons-jacob.
BibTeX
@incollection{ec2_berzelius_jons_jacob,
author = {Provenzal, Giulio},
title = {Berzelius, jöns jacob},
booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica},
volume = {II},
pages = {1486--1487},
note = {Cited by column},
publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico},
address = {Città del Vaticano},
year = {1949},
url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/berzelius-jons-jacob}
}
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