The History of Chemistry

The earliest history of chemistry is murky because many of the activities of early chemists or alchemists was shrouded in mysticism (fire, black magic) or greed (making gold). Many of the earliest dabblers in chemistry or alchemy acted in secret or were quietly funded by wealthy individuals hoping to grow wealthier.

In the 1500's, Theophrastus Paracelsus was a colorful personality who became interested in rescuing chemistry from the alchemists who were motivated by "pagan natural philosophy", instead finding a Christian alternative use for the chemical sciences. Paracelsus was interested in how chemistry could be used to help free people from disease.

From the Catholic Encyclopedia: "He sought the cause of pathological changes, not in the cardinal humours, blood, phlegm, yellow and black gall (humoral pathology), but in the entities, which he divided into ens astrorum (cosmic influences differing with climate and country), ens veneni (toxic matter originating in the food), the cause of contagious diseases, ens naturale et spirituale (defective physical or mental constitution), and ens deale (an affliction sent by Providence)..."

Modern chemistry took another great leap when Robert Boyle decided to use his scientific expertise "to seek for God's purposes in nature. His Skeptical Chemist was an important work, moving chemistry from the world of alchemy into the realm of science. Boyle believed the orderliness of the universe reflected God's purposeful design. God established the universe according to certain natural laws, so that it worked like a mechanical clock, once the Designer had set it in motion. The scientist's duty was to discover what laws God had established. Boyle himself formulated what became known as "Boyle's Law:" the pressure of a gas is inversely proportional to the
volume it occupies."

For a pretty interactive Periodic Table clickhere.





We're working our way through the experiments in Fizz, Bubble, and Flash. It has plenty of cartoons, silly jokes and poems, and easy-to-perform home experiments.



Wikipedia: History of Chemistry
Chemistry Lab Demo Movies at Purdue (QT)
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