The History of Chemistry
This book is written as a result of a personal conviction of the value of incorporating historical material into the teaching of chemistry, both at school and undergraduate level. Indeed, it is highly desirable that an undergraduate course in chemistry in
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The History of Chemistry JOHN HUDSON Anglia Polytechnic University, Cambridge
Chapman & Hall New York
© john Hudson 1992
All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without permission. First published 1992 by THE MACMILLAN PRESS LTD Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 2XS and London Companies and representatives throughout the world First published 1992 in North America by Chapman & Hall, an imprint of ROUTLEDGE, CHAPMAN & HALL, INC. 29 West 35th Street, New York, N.Y. 10001 Reprinted 1993, 1994 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Hudson, John, 1943The history of chemistry/John Hudson. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN-13: 978-1-4684-6443-6 e-ISBN-13: 978-1-4684-6441-2 DOl: 10.1007/978-1-4684-6441-2 I. Chemistry-History. I. Title. QDIl.H84 1992 540'.9--dc20 92-8311 CIP
Contents
Preface Acknowledgements
vii ix
1
Early Processes and Theories
2
Alchemy
16
3
From Alchemy to Chemistry
35
4
Phlogistic and Pneumatic Chemistry
47
5
Lavoisier and the Birth of Modern Chemistry
61
6
The Chemical Atom
77
7
Electrochemistry and the Dualistic Theory
92
8
The Foundation of Organic Chemistry
104
9
The Karlsruhe Congress and its Mtermath
122
10
Organic Chemistry since 1860
138
11
Atomic Structure, Radiochemistry and Chemical Bonding
160
12
Inorganic Chemistry
187
13
Physical Chemistry
202
14
Analytical Chemistry
228
15
Chemistry and Society
244
Appendix The Nobel Prize in Chemistry Bibliography Name Index Subject Index
1
260 271 275 281
To Judith, Simon, Mark and Benjamin
Preface
This book is written as a result of a personal conviction of the value of incorporating historical material into the teaching of chemistry, both at school and undergraduate level. Indeed, it is highly desirable that an undergraduate course in chemistry incorporates a separate module on the history of chemistry. This book is therefore aimed at teachers and students of chemistry, and it will also appeal to practising chemists. While the last 25 years has seen the appearance of a large number of specialist scholarly publications on the history of chemistry, there has been little written in the way of an introductory overview of the subject. This book fills that gap. It incorporates some of the results of recent research, and the text is illustrated throughout. Clearly, a book of this length has to be highly selective in its coverage, but it describes the themes and personalities which in the author's opinion have been of greatest importance in the development of the subject. The famous American historian of science, Henry Guerlac, wrote: 'It is the central business of the historian of science to reconstruct the story of the acquisition of this knowledge and the refinement of its method or methods, and-perhaps above all-to study science as a human activity and learn how it arose, how it developed and expanded, and how it has influenced or been influenced by man's material, intellectual, and even spiritual aspir
