Anders Gustaf Ekeberg
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Anders Gustaf Ekeberg
Swedish chemist (1767–1813)
Ekeberg, who was born in the Swedish capital of Stockholm, graduated from the University of Uppsala in 1788 and, after traveling in Europe, began teaching chemistry at Uppsala in 1794. He was an early convert to the system of Antoine Lavoisier and introduced this new chemistry to Sweden. He was partially deaf from a childhood illness but the further loss of an eye (1801) caused by an exploding flask did not impede his work.
Ekeberg is remembered chiefly for his discovery of the element tantalum. In 1802, while analyzing minerals from Ytterby quarry, Sweden, he isolated the new metal. The name supposedly comes from its failure to dissolve in acid, looking like Tantalus in the waters of Hell. It was a long time before it was recognized as a separate element as it was difficult to distinguish from niobium, isolated by Charles Hatchett in 1801. Wollaston failed to distinguish between them and it was as late as 1865 that Jean Marignac conclusively demonstrated the distinctness of the two new metals.
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Anders Gustaf Ekeberg
Anders Gustaf Ekeberg (Stockholm, Sweden, 16 January 1767 – Uppsala, Sweden, 11 February 1813) was a Swedish chemist who discovered tantalum in 1802. He was notably deaf [1]
Ekeberg enrolled at Uppsala University 1784, graduated in 1788, was made docent in chemistry 1794 and experimentator (laborator) 1799.
In 1799, he was elected a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. Carl Gustaf Ekeberg was his uncle.
References
- ^ Lang, Harry G. (June 2002). "Book Review". Isis 93 (2): 356–357. doi:10.1086/345053. JSTOR 10.1086/345053.
Further reading
- Weeks, Mary Elvira (1932). "The Discovery of the Elements: VII. Columbium, Tantalum, and Vanadium". Journal of Chemical Education 9 (5): 863–884. doi:10.1021/ed009p863. - subscription required
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