Chapter ID: CBB327497668

From Simple Substance to Chemical Element (2020)

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The introduction of the modern concept of chemical element has often been credited to Lavoisier. I will argue that despite the significant impact of the definition of elements as non-decompound bodies in Lavoisier’s “Elements of Chemistry,” this claim is misleading for at least three reasons. First, elements were already defined as residues of analysis prior to Lavoisier. Second, Lavoisier did not totally give up the traditional view of elements as constituents of all bodies. Third, the modern definition of chemical element implies a clear distinction between simple bodies and elements that was later introduced by Dmitri Mendeleev. I will outline the role of this conceptual distinction in Mendeleev’s process of classification of elements and symmetrically emphasize how the periodic system contributed to stabilize his notion of element as an individual defined by its position in the system. Thus the concept of element appears as both a precondition and a product of the construction of the periodic system.

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Authors & Contributors
Scerri, Eric R.
Orna, Mary Virginia
Maar, Juergen Heinrich
Maar, Alexander
Pushcharovsky, Dmitry
Oliveira, João A. B. P.
Concepts
Chemistry
Chemical elements
Periodic system of the elements; periodic table
Terminology and nomenclature
Epistemology
Philosophy
Time Periods
19th century
20th century
18th century
21st century
20th century, early
17th century
Places
Russia
Portugal
Institutions
International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry
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