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