Nils Johan Berlin

Nils Johan Berlin (Nils Johannes Berlin) (18 February 1812 – 27 December 1891) was a Swedish chemist and physician, who held various professorships at the University of Lund from 1843 to 1864. Berlin was the first chemist who took the initiative to write a textbook on elementary science, the purpose being to provide basic science education for the general public. His chemistry research emphasized the study of minerals, especially the newly-discovered rare earths, having devised means of separating yttrium and erbium. The mineral berlinite (a type of aluminium phosphate) is named after him. Berlin became a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in 1844. Education Berlin graduated from the University of Uppsala with a doctor of philosophy in 1833, having studied under the tutelage of Jöns Jacob Berzelius. He completed a doctor of medicine degree in 1837, also at the University of Uppsala. Academic career Berlin held a number of faculty positions at the University of Lund, beginning in 1843 as a professor of pharmacology. Subsequently he also became a professor of chemistry and mineralogy in 1847, then rector of the university, 1854-1855, and lastly professor of medical and physiological chemistry in 1862. He served as the Director of the National Board of Hygiene (Sundhetskollegiet) beginning in 1864.