1Paracelsus
discovered hydrogen by dissolving metals in acids
2Henry Cavendish
identified hyrdogen
3Robert Boyle
discovered that hydrogen gas was lighter than air (not yet identified)
4Ernest Rutherford
showed that bombarding nitrogen atoms with alpha particles created oxygen (1919)
5Jacques Charles
motivated to research gas through hot air balloons, created hydrogen-powered balloon with the Robert brothers
6John Dalton
invented the Law of Partial Pressures
7Carl Wilhelm Scheele
called oxygen "fire-air" after first producing it
8Joseph Priestly
heated HgO which led to his discovery of oxygen
9Johannes van der Waals
developed equation used to monitor behavior of non-idea gases
10Joseph Black
observed that "fixed air" (CO2 gas from heated CaCO3) was heavier than air, could be poured like a liquid, extinguished flames, killed animals (was trying to find a cure for kidneystones); latent heat, heat of fusion, heat of vaporization
11Antoine Lavoisier
developed scientific explanation for combustion, refuted phlogiston theory (when materials burned, they produced undectable substance)
12Johann Baptista van Helmont
introduced term "gas," developed effective balance, anticipated Law of Conservation of Mass; used chemistry to try and understand causes of disease
13Luigi Galvani
discovered that dissected frogs would twitch because of "animal electricity"; disputed by Alessandro Volta who said electricity produced by two metals touching
14Joseph-Louis Proust
created Law of Definite Proportions: elements combined in defined ratios to form compounds