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The eighteenth century has long been considered critical for the development of modern chemistry, yet many crucial features of the period remain largely unknown or unexplored, for general accounts--often built around Lavoisier--have remained quite selective. This volume presents new approaches and topics in an attempt to build a richer, fuller, more complex view of chemical work during the period. Themes include "late-phase" alchemy, professionalization, chemical education, and the links and relations between chemistry and pharmacy, medicine, agriculture, and geology.
List of contents
A Revolution Nobody Noticed? Changes in Early Eighteenth-Century Chymistry.- Georg Ernst Stahl's Alchemical Publications: Anachronism, Reading Market, and A Scientific Lineage Redefined.- Chemistry without Principles: Herman Boerhaave on Instruments and Elements.- Practicing Chemistry "After the Hippocratical Manner": Hippocrates and the Importance of Chemistry for Boerhaave's Medicine.- Public Lectures of Chemistry in Mid-Eighteenth-Century France.- Apothecary-Chemists in Eighteenth-Century Germany.- The Aberdeen Agricola: Chemical Principles and Practice in James Anderson's Georgics and Geology.- Dr. Thomas Beddoes (1760-1808): Chemistry, Medicine, and Books in the French and Chemical Revolutions.- Refl ections: "A Likely Story".
About the author
Lawrence M. Principe's research interests focus on the history of science and technology in the late Medieval and early modern periods, with special attention to the history of alchemy/chemistry. He is the Drew Professor of the Humanities at John Hopkins University in the Department of History of Science and Technology and the Department of Chemistry. He has authored or edited ten books and published numerous papers.
Summary
The eighteenth century has long been considered critical for the development of modern chemistry, yet many crucial features of the period remain largely unknown or unexplored, for general accounts--often built around Lavoisier--have remained quite selective. This volume presents new approaches and topics in an attempt to build a richer, fuller, more complex view of chemical work during the period. Themes include “late-phase” alchemy, professionalization, chemical education, and the links and relations between chemistry and pharmacy, medicine, agriculture, and geology.
Additional text
From the reviews:
“The book consists of nine papers, of which eight focus on topics, themes and subjects that have been neglected in the historiography to date … . It offers a manifesto for all those who believe that the eighteenth century has much more to tell us about the history of chemistry and, more broadly, of science than how to have a revolution and survive it. … it should be required reading for all historians of chemistry … .” (Georgette Taylor, Ambix, Vol. 56 (1), March, 2009)
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From the reviews: "The book consists of nine papers, of which eight focus on topics, themes and subjects that have been neglected in the historiography to date ... . It offers a manifesto for all those who believe that the eighteenth century has much more to tell us about the history of chemistry and, more broadly, of science than how to have a revolution and survive it. ... it should be required reading for all historians of chemistry ... ." (Georgette Taylor, Ambix, Vol. 56 (1), March, 2009)
