Axel Fredrik Cronstedt
Encyclopedia
Baron Axel Fredrik Cronstedt (/kroonstet/ December 23, 1722 – August 19, 1765) was a Swedish
mineralogist
and chemist
who discovered nickel
in 1751 as a mining expert with the Bureau of Mines. Cronstedt described it as kupfernickel. This name arises because the ore has a similar appearance to copper (kupfer) and a mischievous sprite (nickel) was supposed by miners to be the cause of their failure to extract copper from it. He was a pupil of Georg Brandt
, the discoverer of cobalt
. Cronstedt is one of the founders of modern mineralogy
and is described as the founder by John Griffin in his 1827 A Practical Treatise on the Use of the Blowpipe..
Cronstedt also discovered the mineral
scheelite
in 1751. He named the mineral tungsten
, meaning heavy stone in Swedish. Carl Wilhelm Scheele
later suggested that a new metal could be extracted from the mineral. In English, this metal is now known as the element tungsten.
In 1753, Cronstedt was elected a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
.
In 1756, Cronstedt coined the term zeolite
after heating the mineral stilbite with a blowpipe flame.
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
mineralogist
Mineralogy
Mineralogy is the study of chemistry, crystal structure, and physical properties of minerals. Specific studies within mineralogy include the processes of mineral origin and formation, classification of minerals, their geographical distribution, as well as their utilization.-History:Early writing...
and chemist
Chemist
A chemist is a scientist trained in the study of chemistry. Chemists study the composition of matter and its properties such as density and acidity. Chemists carefully describe the properties they study in terms of quantities, with detail on the level of molecules and their component atoms...
who discovered nickel
Nickel
Nickel is a chemical element with the chemical symbol Ni and atomic number 28. It is a silvery-white lustrous metal with a slight golden tinge. Nickel belongs to the transition metals and is hard and ductile...
in 1751 as a mining expert with the Bureau of Mines. Cronstedt described it as kupfernickel. This name arises because the ore has a similar appearance to copper (kupfer) and a mischievous sprite (nickel) was supposed by miners to be the cause of their failure to extract copper from it. He was a pupil of Georg Brandt
Georg Brandt
-External links:** by Uno Boklund in: Charles C. Gillispie, ed., Dictionary of Scientific Biography , vol. 2, pages 421-422....
, the discoverer of cobalt
Cobalt
Cobalt is a chemical element with symbol Co and atomic number 27. It is found naturally only in chemically combined form. The free element, produced by reductive smelting, is a hard, lustrous, silver-gray metal....
. Cronstedt is one of the founders of modern mineralogy
Mineralogy
Mineralogy is the study of chemistry, crystal structure, and physical properties of minerals. Specific studies within mineralogy include the processes of mineral origin and formation, classification of minerals, their geographical distribution, as well as their utilization.-History:Early writing...
and is described as the founder by John Griffin in his 1827 A Practical Treatise on the Use of the Blowpipe..
Cronstedt also discovered the mineral
Mineral
A mineral is a naturally occurring solid chemical substance formed through biogeochemical processes, having characteristic chemical composition, highly ordered atomic structure, and specific physical properties. By comparison, a rock is an aggregate of minerals and/or mineraloids and does not...
scheelite
Scheelite
Scheelite is a calcium tungstate mineral with the chemical formula CaWO4. It is an important ore of tungsten. Well-formed crystals are sought by collectors and are occasionally fashioned into gemstones when suitably free of flaws...
in 1751. He named the mineral tungsten
Tungsten
Tungsten , also known as wolfram , is a chemical element with the chemical symbol W and atomic number 74.A hard, rare metal under standard conditions when uncombined, tungsten is found naturally on Earth only in chemical compounds. It was identified as a new element in 1781, and first isolated as...
, meaning heavy stone in Swedish. Carl Wilhelm Scheele
Carl Wilhelm Scheele
Carl Wilhelm Scheele was a German-Swedish pharmaceutical chemist. Isaac Asimov called him "hard-luck Scheele" because he made a number of chemical discoveries before others who are generally given the credit...
later suggested that a new metal could be extracted from the mineral. In English, this metal is now known as the element tungsten.
In 1753, Cronstedt was elected a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences or Kungliga Vetenskapsakademien is one of the Royal Academies of Sweden. The Academy is an independent, non-governmental scientific organization which acts to promote the sciences, primarily the natural sciences and mathematics.The Academy was founded on 2...
.
In 1756, Cronstedt coined the term zeolite
Zeolite
Zeolites are microporous, aluminosilicate minerals commonly used as commercial adsorbents. The term zeolite was originally coined in 1756 by Swedish mineralogist Axel Fredrik Cronstedt, who observed that upon rapidly heating the material stilbite, it produced large amounts of steam from water that...
after heating the mineral stilbite with a blowpipe flame.
External links
- A Practical Treatise on the Use of the Blowpipe by John Griffin, 1827, from Google Book SearchGoogle Book SearchGoogle Books is a service from Google that searches the full text of books that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical character recognition, and stored in its digital database. The service was formerly known as Google Print when it was introduced at the Frankfurt Book Fair in October...