text: It is disputed that Wöhlers synthesis sparked the downfall of the theory of vitalism, which states that organic matter possessed a certain vital force' common to all living things. Prior to the Wöhler synthesis, the work of John Dalton and Jöns Jacob Berzelius had already convinced chemists that organic and inorganic matter obey the same chemical laws. It took until 1845 when Kolbe reported another inorganic – organic conversion (of carbon disulfide to acetic acid) before vitalism started to lose support. Wöhler also did not, as some textbooks have claimed, act as a "crusader" against vitalism. A 2000 survey by historian Peter Ramberg found that 90% of chemical textbooks repeat some version of the Wöhler myth.