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.

Leseprobe

Introduction. Mixture and Chemical Combination (1902). Preface. Part One: The Origins of the Chemical Revolution. 1. Mixts According to the Atomists and According to the Peripatetics. 2. The Notion of a Mixt in the Seventeenth Century. 3. The Notion of a Mixt in the Eighteenth Century up to the Chemical Revolution: the Newtonian School. 3. The Notion of a Mixt in the Eighteenth Century up to the Chemical Revolution: the Empiricist School. Part Two: From the Chemical Revolution to Our Time. 1. Simple Substances. 2. The Law of Definite Proportions. 3. Crude Chemical Formulas and Equivalent Masses. 4. Chemical Substitution. 5. Chemical Types. 6. Condensed Types, Valency and Developed Formulas. 7. Isomers and Stereochemistry. 8. The Atomic Theory: Critique of this Theory. 9. Chemical Mechanics: First Attempts. 10. Chemical Mechanics Based on Thermodynamics. Conclusion. Essays. Index.