Bücher der Reihe History of Chemistry

This collection of essays examines the question of theory from the perspective of the history of chemistry.

This book constructs a history of Newtown Creek's industrial expansion during the period that began in the 1840s and continued through the early years of the 20th century. In that period, the production of reagent chemicals and refined materials near the center of modern-day New York City grew steadily, as practitioners, alert to European advances in chemical science, developed and applied increasingly sophisticated technologies. Innovations in methods of production, ready access to domestic and international markets, and sustained growth in volumes of production at Newtown Creek in the late 19th century had profound consequences for the practice of industrial chemistry in the United States and for the economic vitality of the City of New York. Industrial practice progressed from the recovery of animal tissues to the refining of crude petroleum and the production of high-purity copper and other metals from mineral ores. With attention to each company's technical expertise and principal products, this book examines the interdependence of the chemicals- and materials-producing industries that thrived along Newtown Creek's shores. The author recounts Newtown Creek's industrial history alongside the stories of well-known New Yorkers - Peter Cooper, Charles Pratt, John D. and William Rockefeller - and other less celebrated or less notorious characters.This book provides a valuable account of New York's history in the manufacture of reagent chemicals and refined fuels and metals and will appeal to researchers, scholars and historians interested in the early years of industrial chemistry.

This book succinctly traces the history of the metric system from early modern proposals of decimal measures, to the birth of the system in Revolutionary France, through its formal international adoption under the supervision of an international General Committee of Weights and Measures (CGPM), to its later expansion into the International System of Units (SI), currently formulated entirely in terms of physical constants. The wide range of human activities that employ weights and measures, from practical commerce to esoteric science, influenced both the development and the diffusion of the metric system. The roles of constants of nature in the formulation of the 18th-century metric system and in the 21st-century reformulation of the SI are described. Finally, the status of the system in the United States, the last major holdout against its everyday use, is also discussed.

From the isolation and development of the first alkaloids with morphine that relieved pain within the home and on the battlefield, to the widespread use of nostrums and the addiction crisis that ensued, to the dissemination of drugs by what became known as Big Pharma after the World Wars;

Hermann Kopp (1817-1892) is best remembered today as a historian of chemistry, but during his lifetime he was one of the most eminent chemists of his day, and one of the earliest pioneers of physical chemistry.

This book traces the global chemical history of cannabidiol (CBD), which is a compound that originates partially from hemp (the fiber), marijuana (the popularized term for medicinal/recreational use), and cannabis (the species sativa).

This sequel to A Prehistory of Polymer Science begins with the Faraday Discussion of 1935 on Polymerization. Patterson then examines the remarkable rise and establishment of polymer science after 1935 from the perspective of the emergence of strong intellectual leaders.

Historically, the reaction was used in chemical analysis and to highlight the nature of chemical reactions, the laws of chemistry, models and theories of chemistry, chemical nomenclature, mathematics and data analysis, and instrumentation, which are important ingredients of what one might call the nature of chemistry.

In this brief, Mary Virginia Orna details the history of color from the chemical point of view. Beginning with the first recorded uses of color and ending in the development of our modern chemical industry, this rich, yet concise exposition shows us how color pervades every aspect of our lives.

In this brief, renowned inorganic chemist Jay Labinger tracks the development of his field from a forgotten specialism to the establishment of an independent, intellectually viable discipline.

This book explores the lively chemistry culture that arose during the 17th century in Colonial New England.

Particular attention is given to his pioneering work on the rare earth elements, including the discovery of four new elements, which allowed him to develop new materials, to invent new useful devices and to establish major industries.

A scientist of great merit and a role model to women scientists of all disciplines, the life of Marjory Stephenson is of interest to biochemists, molecular biologists, historians of the chemical and biological sciences, and women scientists of all generations.

This brief offers a novel vision of the city of Florence, tracing the development of chemistry via the biographies of its most illustrious chemists.

The organic chemists of Russia during the pre-revolutionary period included some of the most creative and talented chemists of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

More than 80 personalities, in or from Germany, that over the centuries have shaped the development of analytical chemistry are introduced by brief biographies. These accounts go beyond summarising key biographical information and outline the individual's contributions to analytical chemistry.

Ethyl alcohol, or ethanol, is one of the most ubiquitous chemical compounds in the history of the chemical sciences. This volume presents a general overview of the early history and chemistry of alcohol production and isolation, as well as a discussion of its early uses in both the chemical arts and medicine.