Johan Gadolin (5 June 1760 – 15 August 1852) was a Finnish chemist, physicist and mineralogist. Gadolin discovered the chemical element yttrium. He was also the founder of Finnish chemistry research, as the second holder of the Chair of Chemistry, established in 1761 and first held by Pehr Adrian Gadd (4 April 1727 – 11 August 1797).
Johan Gadolin was born in Turku, then Sweden, today's Finland, as the son of Jakob Gadolin. He began to study math...
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Johan Gadolin (5 June 1760 – 15 August 1852) was a Finnish chemist, physicist and mineralogist. Gadolin discovered the chemical element yttrium. He was also the founder of Finnish chemistry research, as the second holder of the Chair of Chemistry, established in 1761 and first held by Pehr Adrian Gadd (4 April 1727 – 11 August 1797).
Johan Gadolin was born in Turku, then Sweden, today's Finland, as the son of Jakob Gadolin. He began to study mathematics at the Royal Academy of Turku when he was fifteen. Soon he found mathematics too laborious and changed his major to chemistry. In 1779 Gadolin moved to Uppsala University where he was taught by Torbern Bergman.
In 1790, he was elected a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.
Gadolin became famous when he discovered the first rare earth element. In 1792 Gadolin received a sample of black, heavy mineral found in a quarry in the Swedish village Ytterby near Stockholm. By careful experiments, he isolated a rare earth oxide which...
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