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Short essay on history of chemistry
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Chemistry is defined as, “the study of the composition, structure, and properties of matter, the processes that matter undergoes, and the energy changes that accompany these processes” (Davis 3). Chemistry has been around since the dawn of time, way before humans realized what chemistry was or its importance. The building blocks of the earth, such as minerals of the soil and atmospheric gases, all arise from chemical elements. Natural resources are all chemicals or chemical compounds, and the study of such resources is what began the Chemical Revolution of the 18th century. Today, chemists still toil away, attempting to understand the reactions of the universe. Chemistry is a timeless field of study, and will continue to be so long into the future.
It is difficult to define a time “before” chemistry. Chemistry has been a part of the lives of people since the date of humanity, even if people did not understand the concepts of chemistry itself. For example, early people extracted metals from ores, fermented beer and wine, and made medicine and perfume from plants. Even without a formal definition of chemistry, humans were practicing the subject. In the late eighteenth century, The Chemical Revolution took place, defining Chemistry as a science separate from Alchemy—the dominating “science” before the 1700’s. Robert Boyle is said to be one of the forerunners of chemistry. He discovered that the volume of a gas decreases with increasing pressure and vice-versa (Boyle’s Law). Antione-Laurent Lavoisier, another leading thinker of the Chemical Revolution, gave society a new understanding of the chemical role of gasses in explaining combustion, respiration, and other processes. These leading scientists and their forerunners made Chemis...
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...e the very food we eat. Already, chemicals are put into animals to make them larger and into vegetables to make them healthier. These steps make food cheap and feed larger numbers of people. With the number of people living on Earth rising, it is likely that chemistry will help feed the increasing population.
Nearly every process on earth is driven by chemistry and chemical reactions. The processes in our bodies, gas exchange in the atmosphere, and the decomposition of matter are all small examples of the many things chemistry does in our daily lives. Natural resources, like oxygen, nitrogen, and water, fuel many of these chemical reactions. Chemistry has been around since the beginning of time, even when people did not know what chemistry really was, and will continue to shape the lives of people in the future. There is much more that chemistry can still teach us.
Chemists are the specialists in chemistry, that interact with chemical properties, and reactions. The earth is made up of different gases. Some of this gases are needed for life in the planet but other gases can be harmful to the living. Gas’s use in regular quantities are favorable to the earth. The world started to become more advance and had to use more of this gases to produce everyday objects and inventions by men. Little did we knew this chemicals we going to affect us in our life. Chemist Jose Mario Molina actually discovered that chlorofluorocarbons were affecting the ozone layer.
middle of paper ... ... The Web. 22 Feb. 2014. http://www.chemheritage.org/discover/online-resources/chemistry-in-history>.
1. J R Partington, A history of chemistry, volume 3 . London, UK: Macmillan, 1962
Chemistry is not used only in a lab environment, but it is used for every aspect of life. One way to look into a more in-depth view of chemistry is to apply it to a hobby, or something that may personally affect your everyday life. One of the biggest parts of my life and my main hobby is flying. Ever since I was little, I have always wanted to become a pilot. I am currently working towards my private pilot’s license and I am also attending the U.S. Air Force Academy starting in June to study aeronautical engineering. Since flying is such a large aspect of my life and is important to me, I wanted to break it down into an aspect of chemistry. I chose this topic because flying is very important to me and it will continue to be a large part of my life as it will end up being my career in the Air Force. Not only will researching the topic of aviation fuel help me to become a more knowledgeable pilot, but it will also help me to understand more about chemistry and expand on the concepts we have learned this semester. Chemistry is extremely important to planes and pilots. One of the most obvious aspects of flying that deals directly with chemistry is fuel. Without fuel, aircraft would not be able to run. The molecular formula of fuel and the combustion of fuel are just some parts that play into how fuel makes an aircraft run.
Have you ever had a question about the History of Chemistry, because I just had one recently about the invention of Pepto-Bismol. This invention of Pepto-Bismol was a key invention to the society because this helped people cure their rare disease in the late nineteenth century that people called diarrhea. Today, I am going to take you on an adventure through time that was the late eighteenth century to the early nineteenth century and you will come to see that Pepto-Bismol was an amazing invention. Let’s start with the beginning stages of the creation of Pepto-Bismol.
Chemistry is a branch of natural science that deals principally with the properties of substances, the changes they undergo, and the natural laws that describe these changes. (University of Idaho, 2014) Molecules, as small as they seem, is in the food that we eat and present in our daily lives. Today, scientists would likely know about the history of chemistry but not how chemistry has impacted history. Many would not wonder if these molecules go beyond the chemistry concepts that they have learned. For example, would the world have been different if piperine (molecule) present in pepper had not led to the discovery of the United States? The interesting fact is that molecules have and will continue to shape the world today. In this book, the authors explain in detail how 17 specific molecules had a significant impact on the history of the world. On a whole, this book is very intriguing and very suitable for chemistry lovers as well as the general public.
The earliest knowledge of chemistry was in 3500 B.C in Egypt and Mesopotamia. Chemistry was concerned anything that was pottery, dyes or crafts that were developed but not considerable skills because no one truly understood its purpose. The basic idea of elements or compounds were first formulated by Greek philosopher during 500 to 300 B.C when people believed fire , water, earth, and air combined to form all living and non-living things. In the beginning of Christianity an ancient Egyptian and Greek philosopher were fused into the new ideas of science, starting with little experiments such as turning metal into gold or imitation of precious gems. Later on people such as Robert Boyle, Robert Hooke and John Mayow were just the few people who discovered specific things in history.
Lady Ranelagh’s medical recipie book challenges the claim that Lavoisier is the father of modern chemistry. George Sarton argues that it is Lavoisier “who delivered the death blow to the Aristotelian elements and the Paracelsian principles.” . In contrast, David L. Tenney proposes that it is Robert Boyle and his book “The Skeptical Chymist [that] marks the beginning of modern chemistry. Both scholars, however, fail to recognize the contributions of Lady Ranelagh, a 17th century natural philosopher. in the development of chemistry.
Since Lewis was not known for writing novels, there are very few sources that can be drawn from here. There is one book that goes into detail about Lewis’s life and findings. It is titled “Cathedrals of Science: The Personalities and Rivalries That Made Modern Chemistry”and it is by Patrick Coffey. The book was published in 2008 by Oxford University Press, making it quite modern for a source on early twentieth century scientists. Coffey was born in 1945, just a year before Lewis’s death, but he has spoken to many who had personal experience with the scientist. The same year as it’s publication, it won the PROSE award for the best chemistry book.
For example Robert Boyle, who was generally considered to have created the modern field of chemistry, was really an alchemist. He searched for alkahest, a name for the philosopher's stone, and he spent a great deal of time trying to transmute metals. But although he was an alchemist, he was also a chemist who believed in using careful experimentation to gain knowledge. The very notion of a separate alchemy and chemistry was just beginning to take shape by the time Boyle died. There were even texts in the early 17th century which referred to the art of making gold as chemistry and referred to experiments like distilling a substance as alchemy.
Because other metals were thought to be less perfect than gold, it was reasonable to believe that nature created gold out of other metals found deep within the earth and that a skilled artisan could duplicate this process. It was said that once someone was able to change, or transmute a "base" chemical into the perfect metal, gold, they would have achieved eternal life and salvation. In this way, alchemy turned into not only a scientific quest, but a spiritual quest as well. Although the purposes and techniques were often times ritualistic and fanciful, alchemy was in many ways the predecessor of modern science, especially the science of chemistry.The birthplace of alchemy was ancient Egypt, where, in Alexandria, it began to flourish during the Hellenistic period. Also at that time, a school of alchemy was developing in China.
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.
Chemistry is the most fascinating science to me. Chemistry applies to all things in the universe; living or non-living. Everything is made of elements which are made up of atoms of a certain atomic number. Thereafter I took AP Chemistry, I knew I had to choose a career in the field of chemistry. I understand and enjoy learning about chemistry. Chemistry is important, interesting, and ever expanding. Therefore, I must pursue a career in Chemistry.
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.
Science and Technology has been around from the beginning of time. It evolved from the everyday efforts of people trying to improve their way of life. Throughout history, humankind has developed and utilized tools, machines, and techniques without understanding how or why they worked or comprehending their physical or chemical composition. Before we go any further a definition has to be given for both Science and Technology because they are both different in their own right even though the two are almost indistinguishable. According to the Oxford Dictionary Technology can be defined as the knowledge or use of the mechanical arts and applied sciences, while Science can be defined as the branch of knowledge involving systematized observation and experiment. Science can be further divided into three separate categories; Pure, Applied and Natural Sciences. In addition technology is often defined as applied science, it is simply the application of scientific knowledge to achieve a specific human purpose, however, historical evidence suggests technology is a product of science.