Philosophy of Chemistry

Philosophy of Chemistry
Author: Eric Scerri
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 240
Release: 2014-11-11
Genre: Science
ISBN: 9401793646

This volume follows the successful book, which has helped to introduce and spread the Philosophy of Chemistry to a wider audience of philosophers, historians, science educators as well as chemists, physicists and biologists. The introduction summarizes the way in which the field has developed in the ten years since the previous volume was conceived and introduces several new authors who did not contribute to the first edition. The editors are well placed to assemble this book, as they are the editor in chief and deputy editors of the leading academic journal in the field, Foundations of Chemistry. The philosophy of chemistry remains a somewhat neglected field, unlike the philosophy of physics and the philosophy of biology. Why there has been little philosophical attention to the central discipline of chemistry among the three natural sciences is a theme that is explored by several of the contributors. This volume will do a great deal to redress this imbalance. Among the themes covered is the question of reduction of chemistry to physics, the reduction of biology to chemistry, whether true chemical laws exist and causality in chemistry. In addition more general questions of the nature of organic chemistry, biochemistry and chemical synthesis are examined by specialist in these areas.

Philosophy of Chemistry

Philosophy of Chemistry
Author: Davis Baird
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 394
Release: 2011-09-01
Genre: Science
ISBN: 9781402032561

This comprehensive volume marks a new standard in scholarship in the emerging field of the philosophy of chemistry. Philosophers, chemists, and historians of science ask some fundamental questions about the relationship between philosophy and chemistry.

The Chemical Philosophy

The Chemical Philosophy
Author: Allen G. Debus
Publisher: Courier Corporation
Total Pages: 660
Release: 2013-03-21
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0486150216

Swiss-born physician and alchemist Paracelsus (1493–1541) and his disciples espoused a doctrine they proclaimed as a truly Christian interpretation of nature in chemistry. Drawing upon a mixture of ancient, medieval, and Renaissance sources, they developed a new philosophy that interpreted both macrocosmic and microcosmic events through the personal observations of the chemist and the Divine Grace of the Lord. Until the publication of this book, however, the breadth and vicissitudes of the Paracelsian approach to nature and medicine had been little studied. This volume spans more than a century, providing a rich record of the major interests of the Paracelsian and other chemical philosophers and the conflicts in which they engaged with their contemporaries. It examines chemistry and nature in the Renaissance, the Paracelsian debates, the theories of Robert Fludd, the Helmontian restatement of the chemical philosophy, and many other issues of this transitional era in the history of science. Enhanced with 36 black-and-white illustrations, this well-researched and compellingly related study will fascinate students of the history of science, chemistry, and medicine.

Philosophy of Chemistry

Philosophy of Chemistry
Author: Andrea Woody
Publisher: Elsevier
Total Pages: 561
Release: 2012
Genre: Mathematics
ISBN: 0444516751

Philosophy of Chemistry investigates the foundational concepts and methods of chemistry, the science of the nature of substances and their transformations. This groundbreaking collection, the most thorough treatment of the philosophy of chemistry ever published, brings together philosophers, scientists and historians to map out the central topics in the field. The 33 articles address the history of the philosophy of chemistry and the philosophical importance of some central figures in the history of chemistry; the nature of chemical substances; central chemical concepts and methods, including the chemical bond, the periodic table and reaction mechanisms; and chemistry's relationship to other disciplines such as physics, molecular biology, pharmacy and chemical engineering. This volume serves as a detailed introduction for those new to the field as well as a rich source of new insights and potential research agendas for those already engaged with the philosophy of chemistry. Provides a bridge between philosophy and current scientific findings Encourages multi-disciplinary dialogue Covers theory and applications

Teaching General Chemistry

Teaching General Chemistry
Author: Mansoor Niaz
Publisher: Nova Publishers
Total Pages: 184
Release: 2008
Genre: Education
ISBN: 9781604561050

The main objective of this monograph is to incorporate history and philosophy of science in the chemistry curriculum in order to provide students an overview of the dynamics of scientific research, which involves controversies, conflicts and rivalries among scientists, that is the humanising aspects of science. A major thesis of this book is the parallel between the construction of knowledge by the students and the scientists. In looking for this relationship, it is not necessary that ontogeny recapitulate phylogeny, but rather to establish that students can face similar difficulties in conceptualising problems as those faced by the scientists in the past. Given the vast amount of literature on students' alternative conceptions (misconceptions) in science, it is plausible to suggest that these can be considered not as mistakes, but rather as tentative models, leading to greater conceptual understanding. Just as scientists resist changes in the 'hard-core' of their beliefs by offering 'auxiliary hypotheses', students may adopt similar strategies. Conceptual change, in science education can thus be conceptualised as building of tentative models that provide greater explanatory power to students' understanding.

Philosophy of Chemistry

Philosophy of Chemistry
Author: Jaap Brakel
Publisher: Leuven University Press
Total Pages: 268
Release: 2000
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 9789058670632

This book addresses themes in the newly emerging discipline of philosophy of chemistry, in particular issues in connection with discussions in general philosophy of science on natural kinds, reduction and ceteris paribus laws. The philosophical issue addressed in all chapters is the relation between, on the one hand, the manifest image (the daily practice or common-sense-life-form) and on the other the scientific image, both of which claim to be the final arbiter of "everything."With respect to chemistry, the question raised is this: Where does this branch of science fit in, with the manifest or scientific image? Most philosophers and chemists probably would reply unhesitatingly, the scientific image. The aim of this book is to raise doubts about that self-evidence. It is argued that chemistry is primarily the science of manifest substances, whereas "micro" or "submicro" scientific talk--though important, useful, and insightful--does not change what matters, namely the properties of manifest substances.These manifest substances, their properties and uses cannot be reduced to talk of molecules or solutions of the Schrödinger equation. If "submicroscopic" quantum mechanics were to be wrong, it would not affect all (or any) "microlevel" chemical knowledge of molecules. If molecular chemistry were to be wrong, it wouldn't disqualify knowledge of, say, water--not at the "macrolevel" (e.g. its viscosity at 50 C), nor at the pre- or protoscientific manifest level (e.g. ice is frozen water).

Mixture and Chemical Combination

Mixture and Chemical Combination
Author: Pierre Duhem
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 364
Release: 2002-01-31
Genre: History
ISBN: 9781402002328

In addition to lecturing in physics, Duhem began to publish articles on philosophical and historical topics related to his scientific interests in the late 19th century, many of which appeared in the Catholic journal Revue des questions scientifiques. The present volume focuses on chemistry, and includes the book, Le mixte et la combinaison chimique (1902), as well as several related articles from Revue des questions scientifiques and other sources, appearing here in English translation for the first time. Translated by Paul Needham (U. of Stockholm). For Duhem scholars, philosophers of science and chemists with an interest in philosophy. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR.