The emergence of physical chemistry

Vello Past

pp. 35-50

in: Rein Vihalemm (ed), Estonian studies in the history and philosophy of science, Berlin, Springer, 2001

Abstract

Physical chemistry came into existence as a result of a mutual unification of chemistry and physics. The tendency of an approach to physics became a trend in the development of chemistry in the late 18^th and early 19^th centuries when chemists extensively started to use measuring devices. A quantitative characterization of chemical reactions and properties of substances enabling researchers to find out the general regularities of chemistry was increasingly the goal of research. On the other hand, a number of physicists started taking a more serious interest in the investigation of issues pertaining to the domain of chemistry. For instance, several perspective trends in electrochemistry were essentially elaborated by physicists.