[1312] Of the discovery of oxygen

According to Wikipedia, oxygen was officially discovered on August 1 1774. I wonder what humanity was breathing before that day…

Oxygen was first described by MichaÅ‚ SÄ™dziwój, a Polish alchemist and philosopher in the late 16th century. SÄ™dziwój thought of the gas given off by warm niter (saltpeter) as “the elixir of life”.

Oxygen was more quantitatively discovered by the Swedish pharmacist Carl Wilhelm Scheele some time before 1773, but the discovery was not published until after the independent discovery by Joseph Priestley on August 1, 1774, who called the gas dephlogisticated air (see phlogiston theory). Priestley published discoveries in 1775 and Scheele in 1777; consequently Priestley is usually given the credit. Both Scheele and Priestley produced oxygen by heating mercuric oxide.

Scheele called the gas ‘fire air’ because it was the only known supporter of combustion. It was later called ‘vital air’ because it was and is vital for the existence of animal life.

The gas was named by Antoine Laurent Lavoisier, after Priestley’s publication in 1775, from Greek roots meaning “acid-former”. As noted, the name reflects the then-common incorrect belief that all acids contain oxygen. This is also the origin of the Japanese name of oxygen “sanso” (san=acid, so=element). [Oxygen. Wikipedia. August 1 2007]

Possibly pot.