From Chemical Philosophy to Theoretical Chemistry : Dynamics of Matter and Dynamics of Disciplines, 1800-1950 / Mary Jo Nye.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Nye, Mary Jo, Author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Chemistry, Physical and theoretical--History--19th century.

Chemistry, Physical and theoretical.

Chemistry, Physical and theoretical--History--20th century.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (357 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Berkeley, CA : University of California Press, [1994]

Language Note:

English

Summary:

How did chemistry and physics acquire their separate identities, and are they on their way to losing them again? Mary Jo Nye has written a graceful account of the historical demarcation of chemistry from physics and subsequent reconvergences of the two, from Lavoisier and Dalton in the late eighteenth century to Robinson, Ingold, and Pauling in the mid-twentieth century.Using the notion of a disciplinary "identity" analogous to ethnic or national identity, Nye develops a theory of the nature of disciplinary structure and change. She discusses the distinctive character of chemical language and theories and the role of national styles and traditions in building a scientific discipline. Anyone interested in the history of scientific thought will enjoy pondering with her the question of whether chemists of the mid-twentieth century suspected chemical explanation had been reduced to physical laws, just as Newtonian mechanical philosophers had envisioned in the eighteenth century.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Plates

Abbreviations

Acknowledgments

Introduction

1. Scientific Disciplines: The Construction Of Identity

2. The Historical Demarcation Of Chemistry And Physics: Founder Myths And Social Realities

3. Philosophy Of Chemistry And Chemical Philosophy: Epistemological Values In The Nineteenth Century

4. Language And Image In Nineteenth-Century Chemistry

5. Physical Chemistry As Theoretical Chemistry: A Dynamics For Matter At The Turn Of The Century

6. The Paris School Of Theoretical Organic Chemistry, 1880-1 930

7. The London-Manchester School Of Theoretical Organic Chemistry, 1880-1930

8. Reaction Mechanisms: Christopher Lngold And The Integration Of Physical And Organic Chemistry, 1920-1 950

9. Quantum Chemistry And Chemical Physics, 1920-1 950

10 Conclusion: Theoretical Chemistry, Discipline- Building, And The Commensurability Of Physics And Chemistry

Glossary

Bibliography

Index Of Names

Index Of Subjects

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 287-312) and index.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 24. Apr 2020)

ISBN:

9786612356605

9781282356603

1282356607

9780520913561

0520913566

9780585335117

0585335117

OCLC:

630528687