Ideas in Chemistry: A History of the Science

by David M. Knight

Book by Knight, David

Genres: Science

224 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1992

About the author

David Marcus Knight was a science historian.

Reviews

[Jeff · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent overview of the major developments in chemistry from its beginnings in alchemy, to its modern role in science and the world. This is not a survey of major chemical ideas and discoveries as its title seems to imply, though many of these ideas and discoveries are covered. Instead, it attempts to break chemistry up into different eras which were guided by different ideas about what chemistry was about (alchemy, deduction, experimentation, etc.). This way of conveying the history is effective and gives shape to what would otherwise be a mass of facts and personalities.

This book is most profitably read if you have some experience with chemistry (I'm not sure why you'd read the book otherwise!) but does not require much technical knowledge. I work as an electrical engineering and my exposure to chemistry is only through osmosis, but I was able to follow almost everything in the book.