In the 1870s, the Swedish engineering industry entered a period ofexpansion unparalleled before or since. The next few decades witnessedthe creation of a number of companies that would gain a dominant rolein Swedish industry. For the most part, they manufactured mechanicalproducts, some so successfully that the engineers that invented thembecame the heroes of their era. Many of their names remain familiar inSweden and internationally. Below a few of them are listed.Jöns Jacob Berzelius (1779-1848) was among the firstscientists to embrace Dalton's atomic theory. Using this as well asGay-Lussac's gas law and other theories, he pursued the daunting taskof working out the earliest table of atomic weights, which hepublished in 1818. With the aid of precise calculations, he determinedatomic weights for 45 of 49 then-known chemical elements. He alsointroduced the simplified system of denoting the elements by one ortwo letters from their Latin names. In 1817 Berzelius discovered theelement selenium, in 1823 silicon, and in 1828 thorium.The pioneering work of Anders Jonas Ångström(1814-74) in spectral analysis forms the basis for this entire moderndiscipline. He analyzed the sun's chemical elements, and in 1868 hepublished a map of the spectral lines of nearly 100 elements. Ångströmwas also the first to measure wavelengths in absolute terms. For thispurpose he introduced a basic unit, one ten-millionth of amillimeter, later (1905) named after him.Alfred Nobel (1833-96) was only 29 years old when hepatented a detonating cap for nitroglycerine and nitric acid, butnitroglycerine was still likely to explode on the slightest impact. In1866 Nobel discovered that nitroglycerine flowing out of a brokenbottle was absorbed by kieselguhr [a porous diatomite] which protectedthe container from blows. He noticed that the mixture was very stableand easy to handle, but retained its explosive characteristics. Thismarked the birth of dynamite, patented 1867.Earlier explosives were dangerous to handle, and many people werekilled or hurt in accidents. The revenues from Nobel dynamitefactories in 20 countries rendered the inventor, who remained abachelor, an enormous fortune. Alfred Nobel's will created theNobel Prizes in physics, chemistry,medicine/physiology, literature and peace, to be given to those whohad "conferred the greatest benefit on mankind" the preceding year.The Nobel Prizes were awarded for the first time in 1901.After engineering studies in Göteborg and Zurich, Nils GustavDalén (1869-1937) became interested in acetylene forlightning. Appointed chief engineer of AB Gasaccumulator (AGA) in1906, he was responsible for a series of important inventions:agamassa (a substance that absorbs acetylene, reducing the risk ofexplosions in the same way as dynamite works); a switch for maritimebeacons; and the sun valve, which automatically turned on the beaconat nightfall and turned it off at dawn. The AGAbeacon meant major savings in personnel and materials andmade shipping safer along Sweden's long coastlines. In 1912 Dalén wasawarded the Nobel Prize in physics.In 1872, after jobs and studies in Sweden and Germany, Gustafde Laval (1845-1913) began to concentrate on what would beone of his most important inventions, the creamseparator. The first model was patented in 1878. In 1883 acompany called AB Separator (later Alfa-Laval) was established tomanufacture and export the separator. Laval also designed a milkingmachine, but his other great invention was a steam turbine with aresilient axle, which he completed in 1892.John Ericsson (1803-89) showed great engineeringtalents from an early age. In 1826 he moved to England, where hedesigned the locomotive "Novelty" which competed with GeorgeStephenson's "Rocket." He also developed caloric (hot air) engines,solar collectors and other mechanical devices, but his most importantinvention was the screw propeller for ships. Ericssongained widespread fame by designing an ironclad vessel, the Monitor,which defeated the Confederate armored steamer Merrimac in 1862,during the American Civil War.In 1876 Lars Magnus Ericsson (1846-1926) and apartner started the company that evolved into Telefonaktiebolaget L.M.Ericsson, today abbreviated Ericsson. It began manufacturingtelephones in 1878 but soon ran into competition from theAmerican-owned Bell company. Lars Magnus Ericsson was chiefly anoutstanding entrepreneur, but he also made various improvements toearly telephone equipment, designed switchboards and set up telephonenetworks. As early as the 1890s he established subsidiaries abroad,and Ericsson's products attracted international attention.Carl Edvard Johansson (1864-1943) worked at thegovernment-owned Small Arms Factory in Eskilstuna, where he discoveredthat the gage blocks being used there did not allow sufficientlyprecise measurements. So he designed sets of gage blocks of greateraccuracy. His gage blocks from 1901 had a tolerance of one thousandthof a millimeter, and in 1907 he patented a gage block set with evenfiner tolerances. C.E. Johansson's gage blocks eventually played animportant role in the Swedish and international engineering industry,particularly in the American automotive industry.Johan Petter Johansson (1853-1943) discovered whileworking as a mechanic in an industrial plant that he and hisassistants often had to carry around numerous wrenches for differentnuts and bolts. So he came up with the concept of the universal pipewrench (1888), and in 1892 he designed and patented the adjustablewrench (monkey wrench or universal screw spanner). Heestablished a company that later became Bahco. More than 100 millionmonkey wrenches have now been manufactured by the company, now calledSandvik Bahco, and production continues. Throughout the world, about40 million monkey wrenches of J.P. Johansson's model are producedannually. Johansson made a total of 118 inventions, several of themworld-famous and still in production.While only 16 years old, Birger Ljungström(1872-1948) invented and designed a bicycle that had a free wheel anda rear-wheel brake (still the most common type in Sweden). His firstprototype, completed in 1892, was later mass-produced under the nameSvea. He and his brother Fredrik Ljungström (1875-1964) inventedhigh-pressure steam boilers and a new type of steam turbine, theLjungström turbine (patented in 1894). Other important inventions werethe turbine-powered locomotive and the air preheater.Gustaf Erik Pasch (1788-1862), Johan Edvard Lundström(1815-88) and Alexander Lagerman (1836-1904) laid the groundwork forthe Swedish match industry. In 1844 Pasch received apatent for the safety match. He replaced the hazardous yellowphosphorus found in the matches of that period with red phosphorus andput it on the striking surface instead of the match head. In 1845Lundström and his brother started a match factory which adopted andimproved Pasch's invention. In 1864 Lagerman designed the firstautomatic match fabricating machine, thereby opening the way to massproduction of matches. His "full-service machine" produced bothmatches and match boxes, turning out filled match boxes that wereready for sale.Together with a brother, Frans Wilhelm Lindqvist (1862-1931) developedthe kerosene stove, which was patented in the late 1880s. Inpartnership with a factory owner, he began to manufacture the newstove, dubbed the Primus. About 50 million Primusstoves were made. A clever marketing specialist named B.A.Hjort was instrumental in the success of the Primus stove to which heenjoyed worldwide exclusive sales rights.
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