Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
History of Modern Chemistry
History of Modern Chemistry
The importance of the history of chemistry
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: History of Modern Chemistry
Where would chemistry be if not for alchemy? It is from alchemy that Chemistry came to be, despite the idea of alchemy being seemingly impractical. Alchemy was this ancient, secret, and mysterious practice with the main intentions to turn lead into gold; however, this was not the only focus of alchemy. The philosopher’s stone took a very prominent role in alchemy, a stone that was believed to turn base metals into gold and prolong youthful life indefinitely. Clearly, alchemy was very spiritually-oriented in this sense and in that almost everything was believed to have some kind of universal spirit; it was essentially a blend of myths, religion, magic, astrology, philosophy, and spirituality. Nonetheless, it was still an early step to understanding chemistry and the origin of many techniques and methods of chemistry today.
Alchemy was the stem and predecessor to chemistry, both related to scientific practices; each utilized experimentation, chemists using the discoveries having been made by alchemists. Although alchemy did focus on the understanding and acquiring of knowledge through experiments and observations of matter, it’s this data that allowed for such great development and advances in
…show more content…
Now that experimentation began to be based on the scientific method, works were being published like Boyle’s, and key characteristics of alchemy were beginning to become more advanced, alchemy was now turning into the modern science, which people today now know as modern chemistry. All of the search for new compounds and elements as well as their use in medicine, industry, and more were beginning to falter from the ideas of the original concept of alchemy, thus, generating a new domain. As research began to stray from the magical and spiritual beliefs of alchemy, chemistry began to become more prominent and rise from the “ashes” of its
middle of paper ... ... The Web. 22 Feb. 2014. http://www.chemheritage.org/discover/online-resources/chemistry-in-history>.
Frankenstein is the novel written by Mary Shelley, it has mention about the alchemists. The novel tells about Paracelsus and the concept of the elixir of life, these ideas cause Victor Frankenstein wants to make a creation through science. It leads Victors wants use alchemy to create the creature in Frankenstein.
In the novel The Alchemyst by Michael Scott, Nicholas and his wife Perenelle Flamel have the secret of eternal life hidden within the Book of Abraham the Mage, in which Nicholas protects. It is the most powerful book that has ever existed, and if it goes to the wrong hands, it could destroy the world. That is exactly what Dr. John Dee has plans for once he steals the book. The prophecy could be right, if that is the case, Sophie and Josh Newman are the only ones with the powers to save the world. Sophie and Josh are put up to many challenges once they enter Nicholas and Perenelle's lives. In this novel, many challenges are faced, just a few include Dr. John Dee trying to steal the Book of Abraham the Mage and Sophie getting awakened.
elder and it now seems that the break in his bond with his mother has
There are countless heroes throughout literature. Their stories are all timeless and meaningful. The Alchemist, written by Paulo Coelho, is home to one of these heroes with an incredible quest. Interestingly, it is quite common to see quests and journeys throughout all literature. In the Alchemist, the protagonist, Santiago, goes through many stages of being a hero such as, call to adventure, refusal of the call, supernatural aid, crossing the threshold, and road of trials. Santiago clearly demonstrates all these stages throughout the entire novel.
The Alchemyst by Michael Scott is a fast-paced novel with diction that makes it easy to understand as well. Recommended for particularly teenagers, but adults as well, this book introduces a new world of magic where everything is unsuspected and will leave the reader guessing at all times. This book mainly focuses on the issue between the good and the evil (known as the dark elders). Firstly, we are introduced to Sophie and Josh Newman, who both have part-time jobs and are ordinary teenagers. Sophie works at a coffee shop and Josh works at a bookstore. Little do they know, Josh’s boss, Nicholas Flamel, was originally supposed to die in 1418 according to the records. Although, he’s still alive because he holds the most powerful book (known
Sootin, Harry, and Gustav Schrotter.Robert Boyle : founder of modern chemistry. New York: F. Watts, 1962. Print.
Many famous alchemists at that time such as Nicholas Flamel and John Dee would strongly disagree with the remarks made by Jung. Saying that alchemy was mostly psychological was very controversial and would falsify their accomplishments. Although these alchemists thought they were turning gold into silver, they were unaware that their mind was doing the transformations.
It seems likely a relative simplicity lies beneath the complexity. The metals gold, silver, copper, lead, iron, and tin were known before the growth of alchemy (Royal Society of Chemistry). Mercury, the liquid metal, recognized before 300 BC, appears in both Eastern and Western sources, was vital to alchemy. Sulfur, known as the stone that burns, was crucial to alchemy too (Royal Society of Chemistry). Mercury combined with most of the other metals, and the combination formed colored powders when treated with sulfur. Mercury itself occurs in nature and can also be made artificially. These, except possibly the last, were operations known to the metallurgist and were adopted by the alchemist (McLean). The alchemist added the action on metals of several corrosive salts, mainly the vitriols which is copper and iron sulfates, alums which is the aluminum sulfates of potassium and ammonium, and the chlorides of sodium and ammonium (Debus). These materials, except the chloride of ammonia, were known in ancient times. It was to be crucial to alchemy, for on rerouting it distances into hostile corrosive materials such as ammonia and hydrochloric acid, which readily attack the metals (AlchemyLab). The manipulation the materials was to lead to the discovery of the mineral acids, which began in Europe in the 13th
Alchemy is not just the changing of base metals into gold as most people think, although that was one of the goals people tried to achieve through alchemy. Alchemy is stemmed from astrology; both make attempts to understand mans relationship to the universe and exploit it. While astrology is concerned with the stars alchemy is concerned with the elements of nature. Alchemy also stemmed partly from metallurgy, a science that deals with the extracting of metals form ore and the combining of metals to make alloys. Today’s modern chemistry evolved from alchemy using the extended knowledge of substances and how they react with each other.
There are many ways to examine the subject of alchemy, including alchemy as a source of symbolism, psychology, and mysticism. It has also been an influence on the world view of various writers, artist, and musicians. The focus of this report is alchemy as a pre-chemistry, which gave a new impulse towards the preparation of medicinal remedies and also was a major influence on today's scientific investigations.Alchemy is an ancient art, practiced in the Middle Ages. The fundamental concept of alchemy stemmed from Aristotle's doctrine that all things tend to reach perfection.
After the eighth century a man by the name of Jabir Haiyan took anesthetic compounds out of herbs which were used for general anesthesia during operations or difficult procedures. Jabir is also known well by what we know today as the periodic table of elements. An alchemist by the name of Glauber sodium sulfate in the seventeenth century. He also was the first to produce concentrated hydrochloric acid and improved the process of manufacturing nitric acid. ( “history of alchemy”).These are just a few of many alchemists who I chose to describe today. Many invented minerals or elements that we still use today. If it weren’t for alchemists we would be missing many thing in todays world. Many of these are crucial elements for scientists
Though many people fail to realize it, chemistry is a subject essential to everyday life, due to the fact that it is the branch of science that deals with the identification of the substances of which matter is composed. But what we must understand is that everything in the universe is composed of matter, hence chemistry is necessary in learning more about the world and universe that we live in. There are many careers and fields affiliated with chemistry that people pursue to learn more about the composition of the universe, but for now, let us examine the logistics of three of these careers. These three careers involving chemistry are geochemistry, environmental chemistry, and chemical engineering.
Throughout my school career I have always loved chemistry. In Chemistry there was always a sense that there was more, there was always something new and exciting to be discovered and theories to be proven (or even disproven). Chemistry was the main subject with a real practical aspect to it during school and it is this, along with my genuine fascination with the subject, which fuels my desire to study it further.
Read, John. Through Alchemy to Chemistry: A Procession of Ideas & Personalities. London: G. Bell, 1957.