NDLI: What did “theory” mean to nineteenth-century chemists?

Content Provider	Springer Nature Link
Author	Rocke, Alan
Copyright Year	2013
Abstract	Some recent philosophers of science have argued that chemistry in the nineteenth century “largely lacked theoretical foundations, and showed little progress in supplying such foundations” until around 1900, or even later. In particular, nineteenth-century atomic theory, it is said, “played no useful part” in the crowning achievement of nineteenth-century chemistry, the powerful subdiscipline of organic chemistry. This paper offers a contrary view. The idea that chemistry only gained useful theoretical foundations when it began to merge with physics, it will be argued, is based on an implicit conception of scientific theory that is too narrow, and too exclusively oriented to the science of physics. A broader understanding of scientific theory, and one that is more appropriate to the science of chemistry, reveals the essential part that theory played in the development of chemistry in the nineteenth century. It also offers implications for our understanding of the nature of chemical theory today.
Starting Page	145
Ending Page	156
Page Count	12
File Format	PDF
ISSN	13864238
Journal	Foundations of Chemistry
Volume Number	15
Issue Number	2
e-ISSN	15728463
Language	English
Publisher	Springer Netherlands
Publisher Date	2013-02-17
Publisher Place	Dordrecht
Access Restriction	One Nation One Subscription (ONOS)
Subject Keyword	Atomic theory Chemical atomism Theory Philosophy of Science Chemistry/Food Science History Physical Chemistry
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article
Subject	Chemistry History Biochemistry

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