Nils Wallerius

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search

Nils Wallerius (Stora Mellsa 1 January 1706 Funbo 16 August 1764) was a Swedish
physicist, philosopher and theologian. He was one of the first scientists to study and
document the characteristics of evaporation and also one of the first and most important
followers of Christian Wolff in Sweden.
Nils Wallerius was born as the son of provost Erik Nilsson Wallerius of Stora Mellsa and his
spouse Elisabeth Trana. He was a brother of chemist and mineralogist Johan Gottschalk
Wallerius. He studied philosophy and physics at the University of Uppsala, where he in 1746
became professor of logic and metaphysics. In 1755, he received a professorship in theology
established by bishop Andreas Kalsenius. His praised studies in physics specially in the field
of evaporation earned him a place as the 26th member of the Royal Swedish Academy of
Sciences in 1739.
Wallerius was known to be a devoted defender of his Wolffian beliefs and actively
participated in over 200 disputations both of his own works and by others where he
rhetorically attacked those who showed a too much enlightened view on science and
theology. When Emanuel Swedenborg was asked after the death of Nils in 1764 what he
thought the professor was doing in heaven he replied "He still goes about and holds
disputations".[1]
Wallerius was also an avid and popular lecturer that during periods of his career spent 8-10
hours per day lecturing for a huge number of students. His lectures became so popular that he
sometimes placed them at 2:am in the morning to hold the number of listeners at acceptable
levels.[2] During his life he published many works in his various fields of studies among them
are his 750 pages handbook to physics "Elementa physices" and his 870 pages study of the
soul through the philosophies of Christian Wolffin "Psychologia Empirica, ea continens qu
de Anima humana Indubia Experienti fide cognoscuntur, Methodo Scientifica Pertractata"
(1755) .
Nils Wallerius was married twice. His first spouse, the daughter of a rich merchant Catharina
Ubstrm, he married in 1739 and she died in 1751. In 1757, he married Anna Margaretha
Boy. One daughter of his first marriage, Catharina Magdalena Walleria was married to the
theology professor and principal at the University of Uppsala Erik Kinmark.