Science Fact Finder | Chemistry and Physics - Who Are Some Of The Founders Of Modern Chemistry?

Who are some of the founders of modern chemistry?

Chemistry is the study of the composition, structure, properties, and reactions of matter. The four scientists listed below are among the founders of modern chemistry:

Swedish chemist Jons Jakob Berzelius (1779-1848) devised the abbreviated notation for elements, using letters and numbers, that is still used today. He also discovered several new elements (pure substances that cannot be broken down into anything simpler by ordinary chemical means) and contributed to the development of the atomic theory, which describes the properties of the atom. (An atom is the smallest unit of matter.) Between 1810 and 1816 Berzelius undertook the preparation, purification, and analysis of 2,000 chemical compounds. He also determined atomic weights (the average weight of all isotopes of a given element, expressed in units known as atomic mass units [amu]) for 40 elements....

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