Overview

Much of Duhem's work as a professional scientist was closely related to the newly emerging discipline of physical chemistry. The book and associated papers translated here revolve around his concomitant philosophical and historical interests in chemistry-topics largely uncovered by Duhem's writings hitherto available in English. He understood contemporary concerns of chemists to be a development of the ancient dispute over the nature of mixture. Having developed his historical account from distinctions drawn from the atomists and Aristotelians of antiquity, he places his own views of chemical combination squarely within the Aristotelian tradition. Apart from illuminating Duhem's own work, it is of interest to see how the ancient dispute can be related to modern science by someone competent to make such comparisons. The book is lucid and logically stringent without assuming any particular mathematical prerequisites, and provides a masterly statement of an important line of nineteenth century thought which is of interest in its own right as well as providing insight into Duhem's broader philosophical views.

Full Product Details

Author:   Pierre Duhem ,  Paul Needham
Publisher:   Springer
Imprint:   Springer
Edition:   Softcover reprint of the original 1st ed. 2002
Volume:   223
Dimensions:   Width: 15.50cm , Height: 1.80cm , Length: 23.50cm
Weight:   0.567kg
ISBN:  

9789048159246

ISBN 10:   9048159245
Pages:   322
Publication Date:   29 January 2011
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Out of stock  
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Table of Contents

One The Origins of the Chemical Revolution.- Ch. 1 Mixts According to the Atomists and According to the Peripatetics.- Ch. 2 The Notion of a Mixt in the Seventeenth Century.- Ch. 3 The Notion of a Mixt in the Eighteenth Century up to the Chemical Revolution: the Newtonian School.- Ch. 4 The Notion of a Mixt in the Eighteenth Century up to the Chemical Revolution: the Empiricist School.- Two From the Chemical Revolution to Our Time.- Ch. 1 Simple Substances.- Ch. 2 The Law of Definite Proportions.- Ch. 3 Crude Chemical Formulas and Equivalent Masses.- Ch. 4 Chemical Substitution.- Ch. 5 Chemical Types.- Ch. 6 Condensed Types, Valency and Developed Formulas.- Ch. 7 Isomers and Stereochemistry.- Ch. 8 The Atomic Theory: Critique of this Theory.- Ch. 9 Chemical Mechanics: First Attempts.- Ch. 10 Chemical Mechanics Based on Thermodynamics.- Conclusion.- Essays.- 1 Theories of Heat (1895).- 2 The Evolution of Physical Theories from the Seventeenth Century to Our Day (1896).- 3 Thermochemistry: in Connection with a Recent Book of Marcelin Berthelot (1897).- 4 The Phase Law, in Connection with a Recent Book of Wilder D. Bancroft (1898).- 5 A New Science: Physical Chemistry (1899).- 6 The Work of J. H. van ’t Hoff, in Connection with a Recent Book (1900).- 7 On Some Recent Extensions of Statics and Dynamics (1901).- 8 On Bodies and Mixtures or Combinations (1911).

Reviews

Duhem's command of the historical development of atomism (of whose status as scientific theory he was critical) still makes for interesting reading despite today's very different concepts of chemical structure. His account of the development of thermodynamics, for Duhem the apex of inductively derived abstract science (see John Nye's Molecular Reality, 1972), is noteworthy for its clarity and simplicity. Both bibliography and index are good. (E.R. Webster, emerita, Wellesley College in Choice, November 2002)

Duhem's command of the historical development of atomism (of whose status as scientific theory he was critical) still makes for interesting reading despite today's very different concepts of chemical structure. His account of the development of thermodynamics, for Duhem the apex of inductively derived abstract science (see John Nye's Molecular Reality, 1972), is noteworthy for its clarity and simplicity. Both bibliography and index are good. (E.R. Webster, emerita, Wellesley College in Choice, November 2002)

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