Neither physics nor chemistry : a history of quantum chemistry / Kostas Gavroglu and Ana Simões.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Gavroglou, Kōstas.

Contributor:

Simões, Ana.

Series:

Transformations (M.I.T. Press)

Transformations : studies in the history of science and technology

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Quantum chemistry--History.

Quantum chemistry.

History.

Physical Description:

xiv, 351 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Mass. : MIT Press, [2012]

Summary:

"This is a first-rate book co-authored by the two leading experts in the history of quantum-chemistry. They have achieved a detailed and complete interpretive synthesis which should stand for many years as the definitive book on the subject."

Mary Jo Nye, Horning Professor in the Humanities and Professor of History Emerita, Oregon State University

"This book by Gavroglu and Simões is a masterful investigation of the constitution of a new scientific discipline that is 'neither physics nor chemistry.' It is a book that cannot avoid becoming a standard work for a long time to come. It will be of great interest not only to historians and philosophers of science, but also to the large community of chemists."

Helge Kragh, Department of Science Studies, Aarhus University; author of Quantum Generations

"Neither Physics nor Chemistry is much more than a meticulously researched, authoritative history of quantum mechanical explanations of chemical structure. It is an insightful sociological and a commanding historiographical study of the formation of a modern new subdiscipline, quantum chemistry, and a searching examination of the impact that digital computers had on the field. It is also a highly instructive exploration of the consequences of these innovations for the culture of chemistry, and in particular for the role of theory in chemistry, and more generally for the philosophy of chemistry. It is a model for how to write the history of twentieth-century science, and Kostas Gavroglu and Ana Simões are to be commended for it." Book jacket.

Contents:

Introduction 1

1 Quantum Chemistry qua Physics: The Promises and Deadlocks of Using First Principles 9

2 Quantum Chemistry qua Chemistry: Rules and More Rules 39

3 Quantum Chemistry qua Applied Mathematics: Approximation Methods and Crunching Numbers 131

4 Quantum Chemistry qua Programming: Computers and the Cultures of Quantum Chemistry 187

5 The Emergence of a Subdiscipline: Historiographical Considerations 245.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780262016186

0262016184

OCLC:

707486598