A History Of Chemical Theories And Laws

Excerpt from A History of Chemical Theories and Laws The more I try to understand chemistry, the more I am convinced that the methods, achievements, and aims of the science can be realized only by him who has followed the gradual development of chemical ideas. A just judgment can be passed on the relative importance of the methods which are used, the results which are obtained, and the problems which are being attacked by the chemists of to-day, only when a careful study has been made of the methods employed, the results gained, and the points of attack selected by the chemists of the past. I have not attempted the uncalled for task of writing a history of chemistry. To do that, at present, would be to produce a mighty volume, containing a series of text-books, a bewildering catalogue of facts, and a sheaf of biographical essays, supplemented by prolegomena, appendices, and chronological tables. The object of this book is to set forth what seem to me the main lines along which the science of chemistry has advanced to its present edition. In making an attempt to do this, in an orderly fashion, with some fulness of detail, and, I hope, some sense of proportion, I have passed over very many able memoirs; I have not mentioned the chemical histories of particular substances, except in so far as these have appeared to me to illustrate the development of some law, theory, or hypothesis of general importance. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Excerpt from A History of Chemical Theories and Laws Vwiat classification of the principles of chemistry shall be adopted depends on what is now taken to be the purpose of the science. An examination of the progress of chemistry at different times, in the light of the knowledge we have to-day, seems to me to show that the main purpose of the science has always been the same. Chemistry has concerned itself in the past, as it concerns itself now, with the changes of material things; and, although the aspects of this study have been as varied as those of the transmutations of matter wherewith it deals, the essential object of the study, at all times, may be expressed in the language of to-day as being to describe, to set in due order, and to connect the changes of composition and the changes of properties which occur simultaneously in systems of homogeneous substances, and the conditions under which these changes proceed. The history of the advances which have been made towards attaining this object is the history of the principles of chemistry. The actions of our surroundings on our senses are spoken of as the properties of substances. If all the properties, except, it may be, the masses of any portions of a substance obtained by sifting or sorting that substance are the same. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

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