History of Analytical Chemistry is a systematic account of the historical development of analytical chemistry spanning about 4,000 years. Many scientists who have helped to develop the methods of analytical chemistry are mentioned. Various methods of analysis are discussed, including electrogravimetry, optical methods, electrometric analysis, radiochemical analysis, and chromatography. This volume is comprised of 14 chapters and begins with an overview of analytical chemistry in ancient Greece, the origin of chemistry, and the earliest knowledge of analysis. The next chapter focuses on analytical chemistry during the Middle Ages, with emphasis on alchemy. Analytical knowledge during the period of iatrochemistry and the development of analytical chemistry during the phlogiston period are then examined. Subsequent chapters deal with the development of the fundamental laws of chemistry, including the principle of the indestructibility of matter; analytical chemistry during the period of Berzelius; and developments in qualitative and gravimetric analysis. Elementary organic analysis is also considered, along with the development of the theory of analytical chemistry. This book will be helpful to chemists as well as students and researchers in the field of analytical chemistry.

This book exhibits deep philosophical quandaries and intricacies of the historical development of science lying behind a simple and fundamental item of common sense in modern science, namely the composition of water as H2O. Three main phases of development are critically re-examined, covering the historical period from the 1760s to the 1860s: the Chemical Revolution (through which water first became recognized as a compound, not an element), early electrochemistry (by which water’s compound nature was confirmed), and early atomic chemistry (in which water started out as HO and became H2O). In each case, the author concludes that the empirical evidence available at the time was not decisive in settling the central debates and therefore the consensus that was reached was unjustified or at least premature. This leads to a significant re-examination of the realism question in the philosophy of science and a unique new advocacy for pluralism in science. Each chapter contains three layers, allowing readers to follow various parts of the book at their chosen level of depth and detail. The second major study in "complementary science", this book offers a rare combination of philosophy, history and science in a bid to improve scientific knowledge through history and philosophy of science.

Engineers are empire-builders. Watt, Brunel, and others worked to build and expand personal and business empires of material technology and in so doing these engineers also became active agents of political and economic empire. This book provides a fascinating exploration of the cultural construction of the large-scale technologies of empire.

Although we take it for granted today, the concept of "energy" transformed nineteenth-century physics. In The Science of Energy, Crosbie Smith shows how a North British group of scientists and engineers, including James Joule, James Clerk Maxwell, William and James Thomson, Fleeming Jenkin, and P. G. Tait, developed energy physics to solve practical problems encountered by Scottish shipbuilders and marine engineers; to counter biblical revivalism and evolutionary materialism; and to rapidly enhance their own scientific credibility. Replacing the language and concepts of classical mechanics with terms such as "actual" and "potential" energy, the North British group conducted their revolution in physics so astutely and vigorously that the concept of "energy"—a valuable commodity in the early days of industrialization—became their intellectual property. Smith skillfully places this revolution in its scientific and cultural context, exploring the actual creation of scientific knowledge during one of the most significant episodes in the history of physics.