In 1798, the French chemist Vauquelin Niclas Louis (1763~1829) discovered beryllium when he conducted a chemical analysis of beryl and emeralds. However, elemental beryllium was obtained thirty years later, in 1828, by the German chemist Friedrich Woler (1800~1882) by reducing molten beryllium chloride with metal potassium.
Claprot had analyzed green jade from Peru, but he had not been able to find beryllium. Bergman also analyzed green jade and concluded that it was a silicate of aluminum and calcium. At the end of the 18th century, chemist Warkeland carried out a chemical analysis of chrysoberyl and beryl at the request of the French mineralogist Ayuy. Walkland discovered that the chemical composition of the two was identical, and found that it contained a new element, calling it Glucinium, a noun from the Greek word glykys, which means sweet, because the salts of beryllium have a sweet taste. On February 15, 1798, Vokland read his paper on the discovery of new elements at the French Academy of Sciences. Because yttrium salts also have a sweet taste, Wühler later named it Beryllium, which is derived from the English name beryl, the main ore of beryllium.