Swedish chemist · 1840–1899
Lars Fredrik Nilson
Lars Fredrik Nilson discovered scandium in 1879, the second of Mendeleev’s predicted elements to be found.
How Scandium was found
Nilson was trying to isolate ytterbium from the minerals euxenite and gadolinite, both from Scandinavia, when he found a small amount of a new oxide with a low atomic weight. He named the element scandium, after Scandinavia.
His colleague Per Teodor Cleve soon pointed out that its properties matched Mendeleev’s prediction for eka-boron almost exactly, adding to the growing evidence for the periodic table.
Life and career
Born 1840 · Died 1899
Nilson was born on the island of Gotland and studied at Uppsala, where he became professor. He later moved to the Royal Swedish Academy of Agriculture.
His later research focused on agricultural chemistry, including the composition of milk and animal feed.
Discovered in the same era
Other elements identified within ten years of 1879.