Johan Gottschalk Wallerius (11 July 1709 – 16 November 1785) was a Swedish chemist and mineralogist.

Biography

Wallerius was born at Stora Mellösa in

Närke Närke () is a Swedish traditional province, or ''landskap'', situated in Svealand in south central Sweden. It is bordered by Västmanland to the north, Södermanland to the east, Östergötland to the southeast, Västergötland to the sou ...

(now Örebro County), Sweden. He was a son of provost Erik Nilsson Wallerius and his spouse Elisabeth Tranæa. He was a younger brother to the physicist, philosopher and theologian Nils Wallerius (1706–1764). Johan Gottschalk entered

Uppsala University Uppsala University (UU) () is a public university, public research university in Uppsala, Sweden. Founded in 1477, it is the List of universities in Sweden, oldest university in Sweden and the Nordic countries still in operation. Initially fou ...

in 1725, and graduated as magister in 1731 after studies of mathematics, physics and medicine. He continued his studies at

Lund University Lund University () is a Public university, public research university in Sweden and one of Northern Europe's oldest universities. The university is located in the city of Lund in the Swedish province of Scania. The university was officially foun ...

, where he received his

Doctor of Medicine A Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated MD, from the Latin language, Latin ) is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the ''MD'' denotes a professional degree of ph ...

degree in 1735. After this graduation, he came back to Uppsala where he opened a course in chemistry in his laboratory. This course allowed students in pharmacy and chemistry to witness demonstrations and practice themselves with the experiments. The popularity of this teaching allowed Wallerius to become adjunct of medicine at Uppsala University in 1741 and the first holder of a new professorship of chemistry, medicine and pharmacy in 1750. The same year, Wallerius was elected member of the

Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences () is one of the Swedish Royal Academies, royal academies of Sweden. Founded on 2 June 1739, it is an independent, non-governmental scientific organization that takes special responsibility for promoting nat ...

. He retired from the chemistry chair in 1767 and was succeeded by his student

Torbern Bergman Torbern Olof Bergman (''KVO'') (20 March 17358 July 1784) was a Swedish chemist and mineralogist noted for his 1775 ''Dissertation on Elective Attractions'', containing the largest chemical affinity tables ever published. Bergman was the first ...

(1735–1784). Wallerius is regarded as the founder of

agricultural chemistry Agricultural chemistry is the chemistry, especially organic chemistry and biochemistry, as they relate to agriculture. Agricultural chemistry embraces the structures and chemical reactions relevant in the production, protection, and use of Crop, ...

, mainly based on the significance of his widely disseminated work ''Agriculturae fundamenta chemica'' (1761, published in Swedish the same year as ''Åkerbrukets chemiska grunder'' and later translated into many other languages).Translated into French in 1766: . He published several other studies on chemical, mineralogical and geological subjects and used his own farm Hagelstena in

Alsike ''Trifolium hybridum'', the alsike clover, is a species of flowering plant in the pea family Fabaceae. The stalked, pale pink or whitish flower head grows from the leaf axils, and the trifoliate leaves are unmarked. The plant is up to tall, an ...

(south of Uppsala) as an experimental field. He spent his early retirement from the University due to poor health applying the principles of chemistry as a way to improve agriculture in his own farm, and published some of his findings in ''Rön, rörande landtbruket. Om svenska åkerjordartenas egenskaper och skiljemerken samt deras förbättring genom tienlig jordblanning'', which was awarded the prize of the

References

Other sources

Nordisk familjebok, 2nd ed., vol. 31, col. 498f
* ''Hjalmar F.'
Mutual Favours: The social and scientific practice of eighteenth-century Swedish chemistry
Uppsala: Uppsala universitet, 2003. 225 p. (Skrifter; 30) {{DEFAULTSORT:Wallerius, Johan Gottschalk 18th-century Swedish chemists 18th-century Swedish geologists Swedish mineralogists Academic staff of Uppsala University Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences 1709 births 1785 deaths Uppsala University alumni Lund University alumni People from Örebro Municipality