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Scheele worked as a pharmacist in Stockholm, from 1770 to 1775 in UppsalaThis article is about the modern city of Uppsala. If you're searching for the Uppsala of Norse mythology, see Gamla Uppsala. Uppsala [˘ɵpsɑːla] is a City and a Municipality of Sweden, located about 70 km north of Stockholm., and later in Köping. His studies led him to the discovery of oxygen and nitrogenNitrogen is the chemical element in the periodic table that has the symbol N and atomic number 7. A common normally colorless, odorless, tasteless and mostly inert diatomic non-metal gas, nitrogen constitutes 78 percent of Earth's atmosphere and is a cons in 1772Events February 17 First partition of Poland, by Russia and Prussia, later including Austria May Watauga Association formed in East Tennessee as the first independent Anglo-American government. June 9 British vessel Gaspee is burned off of Rhode Island.- 1773Events January 12 The first American museum open to the public is opened in ( Charleston, South Carolina). January 17 Captain James Cook becomes the first European explorer to cross the Antarctic Circle April 27 or May 10 The British Parliament passes the, which he published in his only book, Chemische Abhandlung von der Luft und dem Feuer (Chemical Treatise on Air and Fire) in 1777Events The Cornish language died out 2nd edition of Encyclopaedia Britannica published January 3 American general George Washington defeats British general Charles Cornwallis at the Battle of Princeton. January 12 Mission Santa Clara de Asis is founded in, losing some fame to Joseph Priestley, who independently discovered oxygen in 1774Events January 21 Mustafa III, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire dies and is succeeded by his brother Abd-ul-Hamid I. May 10 Louis XVI becomes King of France. June 2 Intolerable Acts: The Quartering Act, requiring American colonists to let British soldiers int.
Scheele also discovered other chemical elements such as barium (1774), chlorine (1774), manganese (1774), molybdenum ( 1778), and tungsten ( 1781), as well as several chemical compounds, including citric acid, glycerol, hydrogen cyanide (also known as prussic acid), hydrogen fluoride, and hydrogen sulfide. In addition, he discovered a process similar to pasteurization.
Like many other chemists of his time, Scheele often worked under difficult and even dangerous conditions, which might explain his early death.