Obituary: Aug. 7, 1848

Unfortunately, Jöns Jacob Berzelius has passed away on August 7 of 1848. I, his beloved wife shall be writing this obituary. Jöns Jacob Berzelius was a brilliant chemist and a cheerful man. He discovered four elements and found the atomic weight of no less than 45 elements. He shall be sorely missed in the world of chemistry.

3rd Year of Retirement

I must say my third year of retirement from Professorship has been the best so far. I first married my beloved wife, Elisabeth Poppius (1835)  and have now been made a baron by Charles XIV (1835) . I would say my life is good right now.

Retirement

I am entering retirement because I am getting old, I will live out the rest of my life in peace. Thanks to Chemistry for all those years of fun :)

Bragging

I know it's wrong to be boastful. But I'm going to anyway, I was the first to electrolyze salts and to use the term organic chemistry. Why shouldn't I be proud to be called the Father of Chemistry? After Lavosier of course....

Atomic Weights

I have created a table of atomic weights based on the weight of Oxygen. Aren't I clever?

New Elements

I have discovered/identified four new chemical elements:

Si = Silicon
Se = Selenium
Th = Thorium
Ce = Cerium

And my clever students have discovered:

Li = Lithium
V = Vanadium

We are changing the scientific world!

Breakthrough (1811)

I have finally come up with an almost perfect system of chemical notation!



For example:

H = Hydrogen
He = Helium
O = Oxygen
N = Nitrogen

Or:

H₂O = Water