What Is A Chemical Element? A Collection of Essays by Chemists, Philosophers, Historians, and Educators (2020)
Scerri, Eric R. (Editor)
Ghibaudi, Elena (Editor)
Oxford University Press
Physical Details: 312 pp.
Language: English
The term “element” is typically used in two distinct senses. First it is taken to mean isolated simple substances such as the green gas chlorine or the yellow solid sulphur. In some languages, including English, it is also used to denote an underlying abstract concept that subsumes simple substances but possesses no properties as such. The allotropes and isotopes of carbon, for example, all represent elements in the sense of simple substances. However, the unique position for the element carbon in the periodic table refers to the abstract sense of “element.” The dual definition of elements proposed by the International Union for Pure and Applied Chemistry contrasts an abstract meaning and an operational one. Nevertheless, the philosophical aspects of this notion are not fully captured by the IUPAC definition, despite the fact that they were crucial for the construction of the periodic table. This pivotal chemical notion remains ambiguous and such ambiguity raises problems at the epistemic, logical, and educational levels. These aspects are discussed throughout the book, from different perspectives. This collective book provides an overview of the current state of the debate on the notion of chemical element. Its authors are historians of chemistry, philosophers of chemistry, and chemists with epistemological and educational concerns.
...MoreReview W. Christopher Boyd (2021) Review of "What Is A Chemical Element? A Collection of Essays by Chemists, Philosophers, Historians, and Educators". Bulletin for the History of Chemistry (pp. 134-137).
Review Geoff Rayner-Canham (2021) Review of "What Is A Chemical Element? A Collection of Essays by Chemists, Philosophers, Historians, and Educators". Centaurus: International Magazine of the History of Mathematics, Science, and Technology (pp. 611-613).
Review Helge Kragh (2021) Review of "What Is A Chemical Element? A Collection of Essays by Chemists, Philosophers, Historians, and Educators". Substantia: An International Journal of the History of Chemistry (pp. 157-158).
Chapter Maria P. Banchetti-Robino (2020) The Changing Relation between Atomicity and Elementarity: From Lavoisier to Dalton. In: What Is A Chemical Element? A Collection of Essays by Chemists, Philosophers, Historians, and Educators (pp. 87-108).
Chapter Nathan M. Brooks (2020) Dmitri Mendeleev’s Concept of the Chemical Elements Prior to the Periodic Law. In: What Is A Chemical Element? A Collection of Essays by Chemists, Philosophers, Historians, and Educators (pp. 53-68).
Chapter Bernardette Bensaude-Vincent (2020) From Simple Substance to Chemical Element. In: What Is A Chemical Element? A Collection of Essays by Chemists, Philosophers, Historians, and Educators (pp. 32-52).
Chapter Sarah N. Hijmans (2020) Chemical Elements and Chemical Substances: Rethinking Paneth’s Distinction. In: What Is A Chemical Element? A Collection of Essays by Chemists, Philosophers, Historians, and Educators (pp. 241-256).
Chapter Elena Ghibaudi; Alberto Regis; Ezio Roletto (2020) The Dual Conception of the Chemical Element: Epistemic Aspects and Implications for Chemical Education. In: What Is A Chemical Element? A Collection of Essays by Chemists, Philosophers, Historians, and Educators (pp. 257-280).
Chapter Joseph E. Earley (2020) Origins of the Ambiguity of the Current Definition of Chemical Element. In: What Is A Chemical Element? A Collection of Essays by Chemists, Philosophers, Historians, and Educators (pp. 109-123).
Chapter Guillermo Restrepo (2020) A Formal Approach to the Conceptual Development of Chemical Element. In: What Is A Chemical Element? A Collection of Essays by Chemists, Philosophers, Historians, and Educators (pp. 225-240).
Chapter Farzad Mahootian (2020) Kant, Cassirer, and the Idea of Chemical Element. In: What Is A Chemical Element? A Collection of Essays by Chemists, Philosophers, Historians, and Educators (pp. 143-166).
Chapter Eric R. Scerri (2020) The Many Questions Raised by the Dual Concept of “Element”. In: What Is A Chemical Element? A Collection of Essays by Chemists, Philosophers, Historians, and Educators (pp. 5-31).
Chapter Robin Findlay Hendry (2020) The Existence of Elements, and the Elements of Existence. In: What Is A Chemical Element? A Collection of Essays by Chemists, Philosophers, Historians, and Educators (pp. 124-142).
Chapter Jean-Pierre Llored (2020) Substance and Function: The Case of Chemical Elements. In: What Is A Chemical Element? A Collection of Essays by Chemists, Philosophers, Historians, and Educators (pp. 188-203).
Chapter Klaus Ruthenberg (2020) Making Elements. In: What Is A Chemical Element? A Collection of Essays by Chemists, Philosophers, Historians, and Educators (pp. 204-224).
Chapter Joachim Schummer (2020) The Operational Definition of the Elements: A Philosophical Reappraisal. In: What Is A Chemical Element? A Collection of Essays by Chemists, Philosophers, Historians, and Educators (pp. 167-187).
Chapter Geoffrey Blumenthal; James Ladyman; Vanessa Seifert (2020) Referring to Chemical Elements and Compounds: Colorless Airs in Late-Eighteenth-Century Chemical Practice. In: What Is A Chemical Element? A Collection of Essays by Chemists, Philosophers, Historians, and Educators (pp. 69-86).
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