Joseph Berzelius (1779-1848), one of the world's leading scientists in the first half of the nineteenth century, dominated the field of chemistry, animated the cultural life of his native Sweden, and served for three decades as secretary of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. Despite his immense stature, modern studies have underestimated his significance. This volume remedies the scarcity of accessible, modern assessments of Berzelius by bringing to a broad audience the results of recent scholarship, and it offers an enhanced assessment of his originality and influence.

Preface; List of abbreviations; Introduction; 1. Berzelius and his time; 2. 'Truth, The Angel of Light': Berzelius, Agardh and Hwasser; 3. Berzelius and the atomic theory: the intellectual background; 4. Berzelius, Dalton and the chemical atom; 5. Berzelius's animal chemistry: from physiology to organic chemisty, 1805-1814; 6. Novelty and tradition in the chemistry of Berzelius (1803-1819); 7. Berzelius as godfather of isomorphism; 8. Berzelius, the dualistic hypothesis, and the rise of organic chemistry; 9. Berzelius as a European traveller; A selected bibliography; Index.