Spek, Trienke M. van der (Author)
In 1874, the Dutch chemist and Nobel prizewinner Jacobus Henricus van 't Hoff (1852--1911) laid the foundations for stereochemistry with a publication in which he openly suggested that molecules were real physical entities with a three-dimensional structure. He visualized this new spatial concept with illustrations, but also with the help of small cardboard molecular models, which he made himself. Some of these models have survived the ravages of time and are among the oldest molecular models in the world still in existence. What is more, they are the first material models of a three-dimensional molecular structure ever made. This article describes the surviving Van 't Hoff models, kept in Museum Boerhaave in Leiden and in the Deutsches Museum in Munich. Special attention is paid to the use of these models and the specific purposes they served. A closer examination of the models and their context reveals that they had an essential part to play in the early development and spread of Van 't Hoff's stereochemistry theory: he put his molecular models not only to versatile use as didactic tools, scientific instruments, and precursors to experimental proof, but also as devices to persuade other scientists of the usefulness of his theory.
...More
Article
Gay, Hannah;
(1978)
The asymmetric carbon atom: (a) A case study of independent discovery; (b) An inductivist model for scientific method
(/isis/citation/CBB000014789/)
Chapter
Weyer, Jost;
(1977)
Die Aufnahme der van't Hoffschen Hypothese vom asymmetrischen Kohlenstoffatom (1874) in Deutschland
(/isis/citation/CBB000027213/)
Article
Weyer, Jost;
(1977)
Van't Hoff, Kekulé, und die Stereochemie: Zwei unveröffentlichte Briefe von J. H. van't Hoff an A. Kekulé
(/isis/citation/CBB000027980/)
Article
Paoloni, Leonello;
(1992)
Stereochemical models of benzene, 1869-1875: The conflicting views of Kekulé, Koerner, Le Bel and van't Hoff
(/isis/citation/CBB000034015/)
Article
Fischmann, E.;
(1985)
A reconstruction of the first experiments in stereochemistry: Letters from van't Hoff to Bremer in a new chronological sequence
(/isis/citation/CBB000051448/)
Book
Ramsay, O. Bertrand;
(1975)
van't Hoff--Le Bel centennial: A symposium sponsored by the Division of the History of Chemistry at the 168th meeting of the American Chemical Society, Atlantic City, N.J., Sept. 11-12, 1974
(/isis/citation/CBB000018443/)
Article
Grossman, Robert B.;
(1989)
Van't Hoff, Le Bel, and the development of stereochemistry: A reassessment
(/isis/citation/CBB000057143/)
Article
Schummer, Joachim;
(2000)
Models in Chemistry (2): Molecular Models
(/isis/citation/CBB000101910/)
Article
Causá, Mauro;
Savin, Andreas;
Silvi, Bernard;
(2014)
Atoms and Bonds in Molecules and Chemical Explanations
(/isis/citation/CBB001321116/)
Book
Cordfunke, E. H. P.;
(2001)
Een Romantisch Geleerde: Jacobus Henricus van't Hoff (1852-1911)
(/isis/citation/CBB000470900/)
Article
Schütt, Hans-Werner;
(2002)
Van't Hoff, ein Niederländer in Berlin: Leistungen im Rahmen der physikalischen Chemie
(/isis/citation/CBB000500928/)
Book
Hornix, Willem J.;
Mannaerts, S. H. W. M;
(2001)
Van't Hoff and the Emergence of Chemical Thermodynamics
(/isis/citation/CBB000101497/)
Article
Zott, Regine;
(2002)
Ein Niederländer in Berlin: Jacobus Henricus van't Hoff zum 150. Geburtstag
(/isis/citation/CBB000500929/)
Book
Rob van den Berg;
(2021)
Een gedreven buitenstaander. J.H. van 't Hoff, de eerste Nobelprijswinnaar voor scheikunde [A driven outsider: J.H. van 't Hoff, the first Nobel Prize winner in chemistry]
(/isis/citation/CBB831847072/)
Chapter
Zott, Regine;
(2005)
Jacobus Henricus van't Hoff in Briefen an Svante Arrhenius
(/isis/citation/CBB000670976/)
Article
Zott, Regine;
(2002)
Jacobus Henricus van't Hoff: Sein Werdegang und sein Weg nach Berlin
(/isis/citation/CBB000203139/)
Article
Gal, Joseph;
(2011)
Louis Pasteur, Language, and Molecular Chirality: Background and Dissymmetry
(/isis/citation/CBB001023389/)
Book
Kopp, Hermann;
Rocke, Alan J.;
(2012)
From the Molecular World: A Nineteenth-Century Science Fantasy
(/isis/citation/CBB001260006/)
Article
Salvia, Stefano;
(2013)
Emil Wohlwill's “Entdeckung des Isomorphismus”: A Nineteenth-Century “Material Biography” of Crystallography
(/isis/citation/CBB001320273/)
Article
Myers, Natasha;
(2008)
Molecular Embodiments and the Body-work of Modeling in Protein Crystallography
(/isis/citation/CBB000953487/)
Be the first to comment!