In 1671, Robert Boyle discovered and described the reaction between iron filings and dilute acids, which results in the production of hydrogen gas. In 1766, Henry Cavendish was the first to recognize hydrogen gas as a discrete substance, by naming the gas from a metal-acid reaction "flammable air". He speculated that "flammable air" was in fact identical to the hypothetical substance called "phlogiston" and further finding in 1781 that the gas produces water when burned. He is usually given credit for its discovery as an element. In 1783, Antoine Lavoisier gave the element the name hydrogen (from the Greek ὑδρο- hydro meaning "water" and -γενής genes meaning "creator") when he and Laplace reproduced Cavendish's finding that water is produced when hydrogen is burned.
Is there an answer to this question (If it cannot be answered, say "unanswerable"): Who recognized hydrogen gas as a discreet substance?
Henry Cavendish