Chemistry Everyday for Everyone
Swedish Chemists and Discovery of the Elements Volker Thomsen Rua Xavantes 374, Campinas, SP, Brazil, 13040-360
All of the elements not already known from antiquity were discovered in Europe and North America. So which country ranks number one on the discovery list? The question occurred to me while leafing through reference 1 in search of thermodynamic data on silicon. Never having seen such a tabulation, I wondered if it might prove useful in teaching. The question has a sportsrelated flavor that will appeal to many students. Personally, I picked England or Germany for #1. The actual result is surprising. The ranking considering only up to atomic number 103 is as follows: Rank 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Country Sweden England France USA Germany Scotland Switzerland Others
Elements Discovered 20 19 15 14 13 4 3 11
Note: Where two or more independent discoveries have been made, each country is credited. In the “others” category Austria and Denmark each has two discoveries.
The remaining countries, with one each, are Finland, Italy, Mexico, Poland, Romania, Russia, and Spain. The high place for the USA is primarily due to the work done at Berkeley and Los Alamos on the transuranics. Without these discoveries, the US would have tied with Switzerland at three elements. Perhaps the most interesting aspect of this tabulation is that Swedish chemists have discovered the most elements. Four chemists alone account for twelve of the 20 discoveries: Baron Jöns Jakob Berzelius (1779–1848) is credited with four elements. His pupil, friend, and assistant, Carl Gustav Mosander (1797–1858) discovered three. P. T. Cleve also found three elements and Karl Wilhelm Scheele (1742–1786) discovered two. Biographical research on the Swedish chemists is a suitable assignment at the introductory level. Reasons for the predominance of Swedish chemists presents a challenging student research topic in the history of chemistry. Another interesting question at the introductory level is, transuranics aside, who discovered the most elements? At the more advanced level the question becomes, why? Literature Cited: 1. Emsley, J. The Elements; Clarendon: Oxford, 1989.
Vol. 73 No. 10 October 1996 • Journal of Chemical Education
937
