History of Chemistry

By Stanford Mc Krause

Alchemy was not successful in explaining the nature of matter and its transformations. However, by performing experiments and recording the results, the alchemists set the stage for modern chemistry. In many ways, the history of civilization is the history of chemistry, the study of matter and its properties.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Stanford Mc Krause
• Release date: Feb 1, 2019
• ISBN: 9780463042939

Stanford Mc Krause

Stanford Mc Krause was born on May 17, 1932 in Montgomery, Alabama. He was aeronautical systems engineer and test pilot of the United States Army. He studied at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), was in the Navy and flew in 64 combat missions in North Korea.He worked as a test pilot for the National Aeronautical Advisory Committee (NACA). His work as a pilot was developed in the High Speed Flight Station.In addition to history, he also writes fiction novels, is the creator of the subgenre "Changing Times", materialized in the trilogy "Trapped Minds".Spanish:Stanford Mc Krause nació el 17 de mayo 1932 en Montgomery, Alabama. Fue ingeniero de sistemas aeronáuticos y piloto de pruebas del ejército de los Estados Unidos. Estudió en el Instituto Tecnológico de Massachusetts (MIT), estuvo en la Armada y voló en 64 misiones de combate en Corea del Norte.Trabajó como piloto de pruebas para el Comité Asesor Nacional de Aeronáutica (NACA) su trabajo como piloto fue desarrollado en la Estación de Vuelo de Alta Velocidad.Además de historia, escribe también novelas de ficción, y es creador del subgénero “Changing Times”, materializado en la trilogía "Mentes Atrapadas".

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The beginnings of chemistry

Chemistry is a natural science that deals with the transformation of substances, considered in various aspects, among others in terms of energy, structure, kinetics, reaction mechanisms, equilibrium states, and their importance in nature and society. Chemistry is an experimental science, however, the results of its research can be expressed in numerical terms and in the form of quantitative formulas. 

It is more and more often included in exact sciences. Knowledge of chemistry allows to deeply understand the phenomena and processes observed in nature and the technical environment, as well as to protect oneself and others from the negative influence of an elementally developing civilization.

The beginning of chemical reactions can be seen already in ancient times, and theoretical reflections appeared much later. At first, they were only intuitive. Empedocles (5th century BC) identified four entities: air, water, earth and fire. The properties of these entities resulted from the substance's interaction with each other. 

This idea was developed by Aristotle (4th century BC). Leukippos and his student Democritus (4th century BC) created completely different theories. They believed that matter is discontinuous and consists of indivisible atoms. However, this theory did not gain many supporters at that time and was not returned to it until the 19th century. However, the practical skills of chemists were developing. The method of obtaining metals from ores and glass products has been improved. 

The lime and bricks were burnt and the individual salts were also learned. Paints, medications and dyes were also made. Fermentation processes have also been developed. The first encyclopedic works were also created, for example Natural History by Plinius and the work of Zeosinos on alchemy. Alchemy has contributed to the development of many experimental techniques (extraction, distillation, crystallization). Many substances have also been obtained, e.g. mineral acids and their salts. 

The theory also developed, especially in the Arab world (Avicenna, who lived in the years 980-1037), was very successful. At the beginning of the sixteenth century, there were scholars who can certainly be called chemists. It was, inter alia, B. Paracelsus, who is the creator of medical chemistry and the discoverer of bismuth and hydrogen, and van Helmont (1577-1644), who noticed the reversibility of certain processes. I. Glauber (1603-1668) has developed a method for obtaining sulphates. 

At that time, the first chemical textbooks were also written. A breakthrough in chemistry was the publication in 1661 of R. Boyle's work. He gave the definition of the chemical element and stated that it is a simple, durable substance, and the elements consist of complex substances. Robert Boyle discovered phosphorus in 1680. He isolated it from urine. 

The discoverer of phosphorus, regardless of Boyle, was the German chemist Hennig Brand. He discovered this element in 1669. Also, A. Lavoisier (1743-1794) contributed to the development of chemistry, which initiated measurements in chemistry, including the use of weight. He is also considered (along with Lomonosov) as the discoverer of the law of mass preservation. He proved that all elements can exist in three states of concentration: volatile, solid, liquid. He showed that during the combustion, the substances combine with oxygen. 

The quantitative law regarding the composition of chemical compounds created by him contributed to the discovery of other stoichiometric laws (J. Dalton, M. Proust, or J. Richter). These laws were explained by the modern atomistic theory of J. Dalton, which was created in 1808. This theory says that the atom is associated with a mass that is characteristic of the atoms of a given element. 

The atomistic theory has been an inspiration for many important discoveries. New gas laws have been discovered and significant progress has been made in analytical methods. John Dalton, who lived in the years 1766-1844, was also the first chemist who studied gases - he discovered partial pressure laws saying that the pressure of non-reactive gas mixtures is equal to the sum of pressures that individual components of the mixture would put separately in the same volume as the mixture. 

Attempts have also been made to classify known elements at the time. D. Mendeleyev created the periodic table of elements, which not only ordered in a logical way the chemical elements, but also predicted properties of elements that were not yet known to him. In March 1869, Mendeleev developed the first array of chemical elements; he also discovered the law of periodicity. All elements known to him (63 elements) ordered according to increasing atomic weight. In the table of elements he left empty spaces for elements not yet discovered. Dmitry I. Mendelejew's forecasts for elements not discovered yet have worked well. Three of them were discovered until 1886.

In the nineteenth century, organic chemistry also developed. In 1828, Wöhler for the first time synthesized urea and disproved the theory that organic compounds only form in living organisms. Studies on catalysis have also been developed, which we owe first of all to W. Ostwald (1853-1932). 

The right of action of the Guldberg and Waagé masses was formulated (1867). At the same time, the relationship between the speed of reaction and temperature was determined, which was achieved by van Hoff. F. Raoult, on the other hand, found that the boiling and melting temperatures of nonelectrolytes and electrolytes are different. In 1887, the theory of electrolytic dissociation of S. Arrhenius was developed, which says that molecules of bases, acids and salts are broken down into ions in aqueous solutions. This theory has contributed to the development of electrochemistry.

The development of chemistry caused that the factory production began and the factories of hydrochloric acid, sulfuric acid, nitric acid, soda, chlorine, etc. were created. Steel mills, coking plants and steel mills were built. Also organic substances were produced on an industrial scale. The 20th century is a period of very intensive development of chemistry. Nuclear radioactivity was discovered by H. Becquerel (1896) and electron by J. Thomson (1897). The discovery of the electron caused the development by N. Bohr (1913) and E. Rutherford (1911) of the planetary model of the atom's structure. A few years later W. Kossel and G. Lewis developed the theory of chemical bonds. In 1932, J. Chadwick discovered a neutron. Maria Skłodowska-Curie and P. Curie discovered two new elements - polonium and radium.

W. Heisenberg in 1926 derived the uncertainty principle, which says that it is not possible to simultaneously determine the position and momentum of an elementary particle. Studies on electron diffraction confirmed the hypothesis advanced earlier by L. de Broglie (1924), which transferred the concept of the dualistic nature of light to the molecules of matter (electrons, protons and neutrons). Schrödinger has developed an equation that quantifies the relationship between wave properties and system energy. This equation forms the basis of quantum mechanics. 

Therefore, the basics of quantum chemistry were created. The quantum theory related to the needs of chemistry allows for a more accurate determination of, among others, the durability of chemical bonds, the process of joining atoms into molecules and the speed of reaction.

At the end of the twentieth century there were very large changes in the research methodology. The