| Description |
1 online resource (vii, 296 pages) |
| Contents |
Intro -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Contents -- Introduction: A Systemic Chemistry -- 1. Qualitative Atomism and Life within the 18th-Century Atomistic Perspective -- Qualitative Corpuscularianism in the Renaissance and Early Modern Periods -- The Rejection of Hylomorphism and the Theory of Substantial Form -- Jan Baptista van Helmont and Qualitative Atomism -- The French Materialists and the Concept of Living Points -- 2. Early Modern Mechanistic Atomism and the Concept of Structure -- The Mechanistic Theory of Matter |
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The Cartesian Mechanical Philosophy and the Denial of Substantial Form -- Pierre Gassendi and Mechanistic Atomism -- Robert Boyle and Form as Mechanistic Structure -- 3. Newton and the Newtonians -- Newton's Relation to Cartesian Rationalism and Experimental Empiricism -- The Newtonian Reaction to Mechanistic Atomism -- The Leibnizian Programme and the Kantian Physical Monadology -- Boscovich's Point Particles and the Unification of 18th-Century Physics -- 4. Lavoisier and the Quantification of Chemistry -- The Concept of Element and the Fundamental Nature of Material Reality |
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Lavoisier's Empiricism and His Operational Concept of Element -- Lavoisier's Quantification of Chemistry -- 5. Affinity, Compounds, and the Laws of Definite Proportions -- Geoffroy and Bergman on Affinity -- Berthollet's Concepts of Chemical Compound and Variable Proportions -- Proust's Classification of Substances and the Law of Definite Proportions -- 6. John Dalton and Chemical Atomism -- The Problem of Reconciling Elementarity with Atomicity -- The Weakness of Atomism for Experimental Science -- John Dalton -- Some Problems with Dalton's Chemical Atomism |
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7. Valence, Chemical Bonds, and the Theory of Elements -- William Prout's Hypothesis Regarding Atomic Weights -- Affinity, Valence, and Molecular Structure -- Mendeleev, the Periodic Table, and Theory of Elements -- 8. Organic Chemistry, Molecules, and the Implications for Atomism -- Background for the Molecular Structure Hypothesis -- Kekulé's Concept of Transformation Formulae -- Atomic Bonding and Butlerov's Structural Theory -- 9. The Relationship between Chemistry and Biology in the 19th Century -- Matter and the Processes of Living Beings -- Wöhler's Artificial Synthesis of Urea |
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The Dispute between Berthelot and Pasteur over Fermentation -- The Discovery of Buchner's Cell-Free Fermentation -- Energy/Heat in Living and Physiological Chemistry -- Order/Disorder and the Complexity of Living Beings: Finalism and the Evolution of Species in Darwin, Spencer, and Bergson -- 10. The Quantum Revolution -- Subatomic Particles and Atomic Structure -- The Concept of Atom in Quantum Mechanics -- Differences and Similarities between Classical and Quantum Atoms -- The Chemical Bond and the Molecule in Quantum Mechanics -- Characteristics of Contemporary Chemical Bonds |
| Summary |
"The philosophical vision of the world and the consequent methodology behind the book are clarified. The perspective used is the systemic one, but since today this term has assumed a wide and diversified meaning in the literature, this introduction will clarify the specific meaning of our approach, starting from the meaning of the term "system". Our idea of system is based on three key assertions that may seem contradictory, but are necessary and complementary to its definition. In particular, we considered the usual idea that the system is more and less than the sum of its juxtaposed parts, highlighting the role of emergencies and constraints. In our idea of a system, however, we must consider a third fundamental characteristic: its dynamism, the dual nature of the system as an entity and as a process, its role as a "dynamic entity". Afterwards, the holistic and reductionist approaches were analysed in detail, and both the specific merits and the fact that these two opposing worldviews, considered individually, cannot give a complete and balanced description of reality, were taken into account. For us, only the systemic approach provides a balanced description of both the parts and the whole and must, therefore, be preferred. Finally, the differences between our approach and the approaches mentioned above have been considered in detail in this introduction"-- Provided by publisher |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references and index |
| Notes |
Description based on online resource; title from digital title page (viewed on December 27, 2023) |
| Subject |
Chemistry -- Philosophy
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Chemistry -- History.
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Science -- History.
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Chemistry
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Chemistry -- Philosophy
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Science
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| Genre/Form |
History
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| Form |
Electronic book
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| LC no. |
2023021919 |
| ISBN |
9780197598924 |
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0197598927 |
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9780197598931 |
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0197598935 |
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9780197598917 |
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0197598919 |
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