Transforming Matter: A History of Chemistry from Alchemy to the Buckyball

by Levere, Trevor H.

• ISBN13: 9780801866104
• ISBN10: 0801866103
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2001-07-01
• Publisher: JOHNS HOPKINS UNIV PRESS

Summary

Chemistry explores the way atoms interact, the constitution of the stars, and the human genome. Knowledge of chemistry makes it possible for us to manufacture dyes and antibiotics, metallic alloys, and other materials that contribute to the necessities and luxuries of human life. In Transforming Matter, noted historian Trevor H. Levere emphasizes that understanding the history of these developments helps us to appreciate the achievements of generations of chemists. Levere examines the dynamic rise of chemistry from the study of alchemy in the seventeenth century to the development of organic and inorganic chemistry in the age of government-funded research and corporate giants. In the past two centuries, he points out, the number of known elements has quadrupled. And because of synthesis, chemistry has increasingly become a science that creates much of what it studies. Throughout the book, Levere follows a number of recurring themes: theories about the elements, the need for classification, the status of chemical science, and the relationship between practice and theory. He illustrates these themes by concentrating on some of chemistry's most influential and innovative practitioners. Transforming Matter provides an accessible and clearly written introduction to the history of chemistry, telling the story of how the discipline has developed over the years.

Author Biography

Trevor H. Levere is a professor in the Institute for the History and Philosophy of Science and Technology at the University of Toronto. He is the editor of Annals of Science and the author of many books, including Affinity and Matter: Elements of Chemical Philosophy 1800-1865 and Chemists and Chemistry in Science and Society, 1750-1878.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	vii
Introduction	ix
First Steps: From Alchemy to Chemistry?	1	(13)
Robert Boyle: Chemistry and Experiment	14	(14)
A German Story: What Burns, and How	28	(11)
An Enlightened Discipline: Chemistry as Science and Craft	39	(12)
Different Kinds of Air	51	(15)
Theory and Practice: The Tools of Revolution	66	(14)
Atoms and Elements	80	(14)
The Rise of Organic Chemistry	94	(13)
Atomic Weights Revisited	107	(14)
The Birth of the Teaching-Research Laboratory	121	(15)
Atoms in Space	136	(16)
Physical Chemistry: A Discipline Comes of Age	152	(13)
The Nature of the Chemical Bond	165	(17)
Where Now, and Where Next? New Frontiers	182	(19)
Suggested Further Reading	201	(8)
Index	209