http://www.ck12.org Chapter 1. Introduction to Chemistry
Each alchemist had his own methods of recording data, and the processes were kept secret so that others could not
profit from them. Different scholars developed their own set of symbols as they recorded the information they came
up with (see an example inFigure1.4). Also, many alchemists were not very honest; it was not uncommon for an
alchemist to take money from a nobleman by claiming to be able to make gold from lead and then to leave town
in the middle of the night. Sometimes the nobleman would detect the fraud and have the alchemist hung. By the
1300s, several European rulers had declared alchemy to be illegal and set out strict punishments for those practicing
the alchemical arts.
FIGURE 1.
An alchemical procedure and symbols.However, despite this secrecy several contributions were made to modern-day chemistry. Early acids and bases were
discovered, and glassware for running chemical reactions was developed. Alchemy helped improve the study of
metallurgy and the extraction of metals from ores. More systematic approaches to research were being developed,
although the idea of orderly scientific experimentation was not yet well-established. The groundwork was being laid
for the development of chemistry as a foundational science.
The alchemists were never successful in changing lead into gold. Remarkably, modern nuclear physics can ac-
complish this task. If lead is subjected to nuclear bombardment in a particle accelerator, a small amount of gold
can eventually be obtained. However, the cost of this procedure is far more than the value of the gold that can be
obtained, so the dream of the alchemists has never (and will never) come true.
Events in the History of Chemistry
The history of chemistry is an interesting and challenging one. As we have already seen, very early chemists often
were motivated mainly by the achievement of a specific goal or product. The manufacturing of perfume or soaps
did not require a high level of theory, just a good recipe and careful attention to detail. Since there was no standard
way of naming materials (and no periodic table that everyone could agree on), it was often difficult to figure out
exactly what a particular individual was using. Nevertheless, the science of chemistry gradually developed over the
centuries.
Major progress was made in putting chemistry on a solid foundation when Robert Boyle (1637-1691) began his
research in chemistry. He developed basic ideas that allowed the behavior of gases to be described mathematically.
Boyle also helped formulate the idea that small particles could combine to form molecules, which was expanded by
John Dalton into an atomic theory a number of years later.
The field of chemistry began to develop rapidly in the 1700s, mainly through the discovery and isolation of specific
materials. Joseph Priestley (1733-1804) isolated and characterized several gases, including oxygen, carbon monox-
ide, and nitrous oxide. It was later discovered that nitrous oxide (“laughing gas”) worked as a general anesthetic, and
it was first used for that purpose in 1844 during a tooth extraction. Other gases discovered during that time included
chlorine, by C.W. Scheele (1742-1786), and nitrogen, by Antoine Lavoisier (1743-1794). Lavoisier is considered by
many scholars to be the “father of chemistry.”
Chemistry in the 1800s continued the discovery of new compounds, but a more theoretical foundation also began