History of Oxygen

Air, Leonardo da Vinci, and Oxygen

The history of oxygen starts with Leonardo da Vinci. In the past, air was believed to be an elemental substance. Now we know that it is not. Air is composed of a number of different elemental gasses.

The famous Italian artist, scientist, and inventor, Leonardo da Vinci (1452 - 1519) goes on record as the first to suggest responsibly that air is composed of at least two different gasses. Furthermore, he found that one of the gasses supported both flame and life: "Where flame cannot live no animal that draw breath can live."

Oxidation

Between 1630 and 1756, chemists repeatedly demonstrated that metals that normally gained weight when heated in the atmosphere did not gain weight when heated in the absence of air. Today we know that metal oxidize when heated in air, and that the oxides of a metal are heavier than the metal itself. Oxygen is one of the most abundant elements in the cosmos.

Carl Wilhelm Scheele, Joseph Priestly, and Antoine Lavoisier

Although Carl Wilhelm Scheele and Joseph Priestly share the honors for being the first to isolate oxygen, Antoine Lavoisier was the one who recognized oxygen as a true element and gave oxygen its present name.