ARTICLE AN INTRODUCTION TO THE HISTORY OF CHEMISTRY N. R. DAS* The word chemistry originated from the term, chemi or kima, the name of Egypt in Egyptian. The time period for the history of chemistry covers from ancient history of chemistry to the present. In earliest civilizations, fire was accepted as a mystical force and the controlled use fire in their familiar regular practices like cooking, lighting, making of earthen and glass wares, medicines, wines, metallurgy, armours, etc. eventually resulted in the development of various branches of chemistry in the later period. The basic chemical hypothesis was first propounded by Aristotle with his theory of four fundamental elements, fire, earth, water and air, from which everything was formed as a combination. In medieval alchemy around 300 B. C., the arts of alchemy being intermingled with magic and occultism proliferated into natural science with the goal of transmuting cheap metals into precious gold with ‘Philosopher’s Stone’ and of chemical concoction, ‘The Elixir of Life’, for a longer and cured life. In seventeenth century, Robert Boyle was the first to make a clear differentiation between alchemy and scientific experimental approach towards matter initiating the trend of the history of modern chemistry. The pioneering contributions of Antoine Lavoisier and Jons Berzelius established the subject of chemistry on proper experimental and theoretical footings of chemical science. In the later period, with important discoveries and rapid advancement in research and technologies, in general, the subject of chemistry has been expanded into different broad groups as well as in cross-disciplinary and specialized fields of chemical science depending on the type and kind of matter being investigated. Chemistry is now a major branch of physical science. Introduction of chemistry, medicine, metallurgy, astronomy, philosophy, astrology and mysticism, as parts of normal behaviour in n early civilizations, thinkers were those who always different regions of the world, were known as Alchemy. search for the logic regarding the existence of the An alchemist was later designated as a ‘chemist’ and in surrounding materials and tried to identify the basic I describing the activities of the chemists, the suffix ‘-ry’ elements comprising the natural substances. The ancient was added to the word chemist, to assign the subject as Greek, Indian, Mayan, Chinese and other philosophies ‘chemistry’. attempted to postulate appropriate hypothesis for the existence of the natural materials in solid, liquid or gaseous The etymology or the origin of the word chemistry is phases having different characteristic properties of density, much disputed as the science of chemistry has been around colour, smell, etc. as well as their changing behaviours in since the prehistoric times. The visions on the composition the prevailing environmental conditions. and properties of matter were to some extent shared by both alchemy and chemistry and a blend of these was In the history of chemistry as early as around 300 B. presented earlier by the term chymistry. Robert Boyle in C., the regular skilful practices involving various techniques 1661 was the first to use the term chymistry to specify the subject dealing with the material principles of mixed * Former Professor, Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics, 1/AF, Bidhan bodies. According to Christopher Glaser (1663), chymistry Nagar, Kolkata - 700 064, e-mail : [email protected] 342 SCIENCE AND CULTURE, NOVEMBER-DECEMBER, 2016 meant to acquire scientific knowledge of dissolving a light was accepted simply as a mystical force. Early substance, to draw from it another substance of different evidence of extractive metallurgy dated fifth and sixth composition and to exalt it to a higher perfection. In 1730, millennium B. C. involving lead and copper was found in Georg Ernst Stahl was perhaps the first to use the word different archaeological sites in Siberia and of the third chemistry to describe the technique of resolving mixed, millennium B. C. in Portugal, Spain and United Kingdom. aggregate or compound materials into their principles and The controlled use of fire in various aspects of cooking of composing these materials from those principles. Jean- and habitat lighting; making of glass and earthen wares Baptiste Dumas in 1837 referred chemistry to deal with like pottery, bricks, glazes; fermentation of beers and wines; the science concerning the laws and the effects of molecular preparation of medicines, soaps, perfumes; extraction of forces. chemicals from plants; etc. eventually formed the basis for development of different branches of chemistry in the later In retrospect, with new discoveries and development period of around 1000 B. C. of theories in chemical science, the definition of chemistry has gradually been modified over the period. For example, The application of fire for extraction and purification Linus Pauling in 1947 suggested that the chemistry is to of metals from ores, production of alloys like bronze, deal with the science of substances involving their structure, making of armors and weapons for the armies from superior properties and the reactions that change them into other alloys, etc. resulted in the initiation of the field of substances. More recently in 1998, the definition of metallurgy which helped in the development of early human chemistry has been broadly modified to mean the study of culture. In the Bronze Age around 3500 B.C., significant matter and the changes it undergoes, as phrased by progress in alchemy involving metallurgy was achieved in Professor Raymond Chang. The subject of chemistry has ancient India. The Iron Age began with the development now become a major branch of physical science primarily of the method for extraction of metal iron from its ores by concerned with atoms, molecules and their interactions and Hittites in about 1200 B.C. Wide varieties of evidences of transformations involving the structure, composition and early civilizations in different regions of the world properties of matter. With rapid advancement of science, particularly in ancient and medieval kingdoms and empires the subject of chemistry, in the later period, has become of the Middle East, Iran, Egypt, Anatolia (Turkey), Greeks, intertwined with the modern topic like thermodynamics, Romans, Europe, China, India, Japan, amongst others, have nuclear science and many other fields of advanced research, indicated the cultural developments in this age period. The particularly, in occupying an intermediate position between new prehistoric discoveries are continuous and ongoing. physics and biology. The early theory of atomism has been traced back to In this article, the time span for the History of ancient Greece and ancient India. The Greek philosophers, Chemistry representing from the ancient period to the Democritus and Epicurus, around 440 B.C, proclaimed that present is chronologically classified into four broad the simplest unit of matter is the atom and all matter is categories such as Ancient Period of the History of composed of these indivisible and indestructible atoms. The Chemistry, Medieval Alchemy, Early Chemistry of 17th and proclamation was found to be corroborated with the views 18th Centuries, and Chemistry of 19th Century to the of the Indian philosopher, Kanada, the founder of the Present. Vaisheshika philosophy, around the same time period. In 380 B. C, the Greek thinker, Polybus postulated that the Ancient Period of History human body is composed of four humours, the four fluids The earliest evidence of using metal by humans as free of the body, believed to determine the physical and mental ‘native’ gold has been manifested from the fact that small qualities of human. Epicurus around 300 B.C. suggested a amounts of natural gold have been found in Spanish caves universe of indestructible atoms in which man himself has of the late Paleolithic period of around 40,000 B. C. In the capability of achieving a balanced life. ancient Egypt, as early as in 2900 B.C., gold was In early civilizations, the familiar practices of arts or considered as precious metal and the metals like silver, the skilled techniques were followed without any basic copper, tin which can also be sometimes found native were knowledge or a systematic concept. In 300 B.C., a chemical used in metal working in the prevailing cultures. Egyptian hypothesis was first propounded by Aristotle in Greece with weapons made from meteoric iron in about 3000 B.C. were the theory of four fundamental elements, fire (hot and dry), known as ‘Daggers from Heaven’. water (cold and moist), air (hot and moist) and earth (cold In early societies, the fire that was generally utilized and dry), as presented in Figure 1, in which everything to transform one substance into another producing heat and was considered to be formed as a combination of these VOL. 82, NOS. 11–12 343 elements. Empedocles also hinted a hypothesis about the ahead of many of the existing civilizations during the theory of fundamental elements earlier in 420 B. C. The period. In ninth century, the inventions of laboratory Roman poet and philosopher Lucretius in 50 B. C. wrote apparatus like alembic (apparatus for distilling), crucible, ‘De Rerum Natura (The Nature of Things)’ which retort, furnace; chemical analysis of substances; distinction described the principles of atomism; the nature of mind between acids and alkalis; manufacture of drugs; etc. were and soul; cause of sensation and thought; the development achieved in chemistry. of the world and explanations for a variety of celestial and terrestrial phenomena. Alchemy made extensive contribution to the evolution of chemistry in Greco-Roman Egypt, India and the Arab world and the Western alchemists, in general, became influenced by the scientific experimental framework developed in these regions, as the discipline migrated to Renaissance Europe in twelfth century. In Europe, Fire Water Air Earth Paracelsus (1493–1541) refuted the four element theory of Figure 1. Symbol of basic alchemy Aristotle and introduced a hybrid of alchemy and science called as iatrochemistry.