The term organic originates from Jons Jacob Berzelius, a 19th century Swedish scientist, who used the term to refer to substances present in living things. During Berzelius’ time, the vital force theory was popular. This theory stated that a "life force" was needed to produce the organic compounds found only in living things. The vital force theory began losing support after an 1828 experiment conducted by Friedrich Wöhler. His work showed that urea, an organic compound, could be created from ammonium cyanate, an inorganic compound.