Science Fair Project Encyclopedia Jöns Jakob Berzelius Jöns
Jakob Berzelius (August 20, 1779 - August 7, 1848) was a Swedish
chemist, who invented modern chemical notation and is considered
one of the fathers of modern chemistry (along with John Dalton
and Antoine Lavoisier). Berzelius discovered the elements
silicon, selenium, thorium, and cerium. He was inducted into the
Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in 1808, and became a member
of the Swedish Academy in 1837. Trained as a medical doctor at
the Uppsala University, in 1802 he became a teacher, from 1807
professor, in medicine and surgery at the Stockholm School of
Surgery. In 1810 the school became a part of Medico-Kirurgiska
institutet, the predecessor to the Karolinska Institute, and
Berzelius was appointed professor in chemistry and pharmacy. Not
long after arriving to Stockholm he wrote a chemistry textbook
for his medical students, from which point a long and fruitful
career in chemistry began. While conducting experiments in
support of the textbook