Experiments, Models, Paper Tools: Cultures of Organic Chemistry in the Nineteenth CenturyStanford University Press, 2003 - 305 pages In the early nineteenth century, chemistry emerged in Europe as a truly experimental discipline. What set this process in motion, and how did it evolve? Experimentalization in chemistry was driven by a seemingly innocuous tool: the sign system of chemical formulas invented by the Swedish chemist Jacob Berzelius. By tracing the history of this paper tool, the author reveals how chemistry quickly lost its orientation to natural history and became a major productive force in industrial society. These formulas were not merely a convenient shorthand, but productive tools for creating order amid the chaos of early nineteenth-century organic chemistry. With these formulas, chemists could create a multifaceted world on paper, which they then correlated with experiments and the traces produced in test tubes and flasks. The author s semiotic approach to the formulas allows her to show in detail how their particular semantic and representational qualities made them especially useful as paper tools for productive application. |
Table des matières
Introduction | 1 |
The Semiotics of Berzelian Chemical Formulas | 9 |
Two Cultures of Organic Chemistry in the Nineteenth | 41 |
Experiments on the Periphery of Plant Chemistry | 86 |
Paper Tools for the Construction of Interpretive Models | 118 |
Paper Tools for the Classification of Organic Substances | 130 |
Paper Tools for Modeling the Constitution of Organic | 149 |
The Dialectic of Tools and Goals | 188 |
The Historical Transformation Process | 207 |
Paper Tools | 231 |
Notes | 249 |
Literature Cited | 279 |
299 | |
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Expressions et termes fréquents
acetic acid alcohol analogous animal chemistry animal substances benzoyl Berzelian formulas Berzelian raw formula Berzelius Berzelius's bicarbonated hydrogen binary compounds binary constitution Boullay's carbon chemistry carbonic acid Chapter chem chemical compounds chemical formulas chemical portions chemical properties chloral chlorine classification combining weight constitution of alcohol constitution of organic construction culture of carbon decomposition Dumas and Boullay elements European chemists example experimental culture experiments formation formula model ganic Gay-Lussac Ibid immediate constituents initial substances inorganic inscriptions Jean Dumas laboratory Liebig manipulations models of constitution mula muriatic acid natural historical nineteenth century nitric acid olefiant gas ordinary ether organic chemistry organic compounds organic substances oxide oxygen paper tools partial formula plant and animal plant substances quantitative analysis radical reaction products reconstruction salts Saussure scientific culture species sugar sulfovinic acid sulfuric acid sweet wine oil Thenard theoretical theory tion transformation volumes water of crystallization Wöhler
Références à ce livre
Philosophy of Chemistry: Synthesis of a New Discipline Davis Baird,Eric Scerri,Lee McIntyre Aperçu limité - 2011 |