In 1811 Jns Jacob Berzelius introduced the classical system of chemical symbols.

Keeping generations of chemistry students busy :)

Thanks krihol... Jons Jacob Berzelius is considered one of the father's of modern day chemistry.



Here are some biographical links about Berzelius...

Wikipedia Link - Jons Jacob Berzelius

NNDB Profile - Jons Jacob Berzelius




And here are links to reprints of the Sections II and III of Berzelius famously long paper where he describes the classical system of chemical symbols...


Section II - On the Cause of Chemical Proportions (1)


Section III - On the Chemical Signs, and the Method of Employing them to Express Chemical Proportions (2)



(1) Essay on the Cause of Chemical Proportions, and on Some Circumstances Relating to Them: Together with a Short and Easy Method of Expressing Them. Annals of Philosophy 2, 443-454 (1813), 3, 51-2, 93-106, 244-255, 353-364 (1814) [from David M. Knight, ed., Classical Scientific Papers (New York: American Elsevier, 1968)]

(2) Essay on the Cause of Chemical Proportions, and on Some Circumstances Relating to Them: Together with a Short and Easy Method of Expressing Them. Annals of Philosophy 2, 443-454 (1813), 3, 51-2, 93-106, 244-255, 353-364 (1814) [from Henry M. Leicester & Herbert S. Klickstein, eds., A Source Book in Chemistry, 1400-1900 (Cambridge, MA: Harvard, 1952)

And here a some more biographical links for all you science history buffs out there -


Wolfram Research Scienceworld - Jons Berzelius


BiographyBase - Jons Jacob Berzelius Biography


Incredible People - Jons Jacob Berzelius


Purdue University - The Origins of Stoichiometry (Jns Jacob Berzelius)


Allegheny College Traveling with the Atom - Jns Jacob Berzelius


Enlightenment Science in the Romantic Era: The Chemistry of Berzelius and its Cultural Setting (Uppsala Studies in History of Science, V. 10). by Evan M. Melhado (Editor), Tore Frdngsmyr (Editor)