Science

When considering the fathers of modern chemistry, we must never forget to include Jons Jakob Berzelius. A disciple of John Dalton, he developed the concepts of the ion and ionic compounds, and helped bring about the rejection of Avogadro’s hypothesis. Thus, after Lavoisier, Berzelius must be considered the father of chemistry. However, things weren’t always so good for the man with an extraordinary mind. Berzelius was born in Sorgard, Sweden in 1779 as the son of two well-educated parents. Despite this background, his childhood was very difficult and unhappy. His father, who was a teacher, died when he was just four years old, prompting his mother to remarry. In just two years, she fell victim to pneumonia and died as well. Traveling from family to family, he eventually was sent away to school in Linkoping, where he supported himself by tutoring the other children. He had the extraordinary ability to learn languages and soon he became proficient in both German and French. Perhaps i...