The History of Chemistry
9781465607898
258 pages
Library of Alexandria
Overview
Chemistry, unlike the other sciences, sprang originally from delusion and superstition, and was at its commencement exactly on a level with magic and astrology. Even after it began to be useful to man, by furnishing him with better and more powerful medicines than the ancient physicians were acquainted with, it was long before it could shake off the trammels of alchymy, which hung upon it like a nightmare, cramping and blunting all its energies, and exposing it to the scorn and contempt of the enlightened part of mankind. It was not till about the middle of the eighteenth century that it was able to free itself from these delusions, and to venture abroad in all the native dignity of a useful science. It was then that its utility and its importance began to attract the attention of the world; that it drew within its vortex some of the greatest and most active men in every country; and that it advanced towards perfection with an accelerated pace. The field which it now presents to our view is vast and imposing. Its paramount utility is universally acknowledged. It has become a necessary part of education. It has contributed as much to the progress of society, and has done as much to augment the comforts and conveniences of life, and to increase the power and the resources of mankind, as all the other sciences put together. It is natural to feel a desire to be acquainted with the origin and the progress of such a science; and to know something of the history and character of those numerous votaries to whom it is indebted for its progress and improvement. The object of this little work is to gratify these laudable wishes, by taking a rapid view of the progress of Chemistry, from its first rude and disgraceful beginnings till it has reached its present state of importance and dignity. I shall divide the subject into fifteen chapters. In the first I shall treat of Alchymy, which may be considered as the inauspicious commencement of the science, and which, in fact, consists of little else than an account of dupes and impostors; every where so full of fiction and obscurity, that it is a hopeless and almost impossible task to reach the truth. In the second chapter I shall endeavour to point out the few small chemical rills, which were known to the ancients. These I shall follow in their progress, in the succeeding chapters, till at last, augmented by an infinite number of streams flowing at once from a thousand different quarters, they have swelled to the mighty river, which now flows on majestically, wafting wealth and information to the civilized world.
