Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
  1. Home
  2. Browse subjects
  3. Chemistry
  4. Chemistry: general interest
  5. Content listing

Refine search

Refine search

Access:
Content type:
Publication date:
Apply   From and To filters
Journals Show more
Publishers: Show more
Societies Show more
Series: Show more
Collections: Show more

Actions for selected content:

Select all | Deselect all
  • View selected items
  • Export citations
  • Download PDF (zip)
  • Save to Kindle
  • Save to Dropbox
  • Save to Google Drive

Save Search

You can save your searches here and later view and run them again in "My saved searches".

Please provide a title, maximum of 40 characters.
Cancel
×

27 results in Chemistry: general interest

Page 1 of 2

Conferences Held in Connection with the Special Loan Collection of Scientific Apparatus, 1876
  • Chemistry, Biology, Physical Geography, Geology, Mineralogy, and Meteorology
  • Volume 2, Chemistry, Biology, Physical Geography, Geology, Mineralogy, and Meteorology
  • Various Authors
  • Published online:
    05 June 2015
    Print publication:
    19 March 2015
    First published in:
    1876
  • In 1876 the South Kensington Museum held a major international exhibition of scientific instruments and equipment, both historical and contemporary. Many of the items eventually formed the basis of collections now held at London's Science Museum. In May 1876, organisers arranged a series of conferences at which leading British and European scientists explained and demonstrated some of the items on display. The purpose was to emphasise the exhibition's goal not merely to preserve archaic treasures (such as Galileo's telescopes or Janssen's microscope) but to juxtapose them with current technology and so inspire future scientific developments. Volume 2 of the proceedings covers chemistry, biology, and earth sciences including geology, mining, meteorology and hydrography. The contributors include Joseph Dalton Hooker, William Thiselton-Dyer, Andrew Crombie Ramsay and John Rae, all of whom have other works reissued in the Cambridge Library Collection, which also includes the full catalogue of the exhibition itself.

The Elements of Medical Chemistry
  • Embracing Only Those Branches of Chemical Science which Are Calculated to Illustrate or Explain the Different Objects of Medicine, and to Furnish a Chemical Grammar to the Author's Pharmacologia
  • John Ayrton Paris
  • Published online:
    05 November 2014
    Print publication:
    24 April 2014
  • The physician and author John Ayrton Paris (1785–1856), several of whose other medical and popular works have been reissued in the Cambridge Library Collection, published the first edition of his Pharmacologia in 1812. It was immediately successful, and went into eight further editions until 1843. The third edition, of 1820, has been reissued in this series. This book, published in 1825, was intended as a companion volume, providing a 'grammar' of chemistry for the medical student. After an imaginary dialogue on the importance of chemistry, between a provincial physician and 'the author', to whom the former is entrusting his son for his medical education, the book moves systematically from the general application of chemistry to medicine, through topics such as gravity, crystallization and electricity, to the detail of the actions of specific elements, and tables of relevant weights and measures, providing fascinating insights into the history of medical education.

Experiments and Observations on Different Kinds of Air
  • The Second Edition, Corrected
  • Volume 1
  • Joseph Priestley
  • Published online:
    05 October 2014
    Print publication:
    05 September 2013
  • By the late eighteenth century, scientists had discovered certain types of gas, such as 'fixed air' (carbon dioxide), but their composition was little understood. Relatively few investigations into gases had taken place, and so the polymath Joseph Priestley (1733–1804) was able to make major breakthroughs in the field using a range of experimental techniques. While living near a brewery, he found that it was possible to outline the shape of the gas above fermenting beer with smoke, and that fire would burn with varying strength depending on the composition of the air. This three-volume collection first appeared between 1774 and 1777. Primarily an account of Priestley's early experiments, with details of apparatus including candles and live mice, Volume 1 is reissued here in its corrected 1775 second edition and also incorporates a brief history of the field of inquiry.

Experiments and Observations on Different Kinds of Air
  • The Second Edition
  • Volume 2
  • Joseph Priestley
  • Published online:
    05 October 2014
    Print publication:
    05 September 2013
  • By the late eighteenth century, scientists had discovered certain types of gas, such as 'fixed air' (carbon dioxide), but their composition was little understood. Relatively few investigations into gases had taken place, and so the polymath Joseph Priestley (1733–1804) was able to make major breakthroughs in the field using a range of experimental techniques. While living near a brewery, he found that it was possible to outline the shape of the gas above fermenting beer with smoke, and that fire would burn with varying strength depending on the composition of the air. This three-volume collection first appeared between 1774 and 1777. Following the international interest and new discoveries prompted by the publication of its predecessor, Volume 2 - reissued here in its corrected 1776 second edition - includes accounts of further experiments, Priestley's paper on the conducting power of charcoal, and, most significantly, notes on what he calls 'dephlogisticated air' (oxygen).

Experiments and Observations on Different Kinds of Air
  • Volume 3
  • Joseph Priestley
  • Published online:
    05 October 2014
    Print publication:
    05 September 2013
  • By the late eighteenth century, scientists had discovered certain types of gas, such as 'fixed air' (carbon dioxide), but their composition was little understood. Relatively few investigations into gases had taken place, and so the polymath Joseph Priestley (1733–1804) was able to make major breakthroughs in the field using a range of experimental techniques. While living near a brewery, he found that it was possible to outline the shape of the gas above fermenting beer with smoke, and that fire would burn with varying strength depending on the composition of the air. This three-volume collection first appeared between 1774 and 1777. Priestley acknowledges that Volume 3 (1777) would more greatly interest those with technical training in the physical sciences as compared with general scholars. It also highlights some new and important inferences, notably on the function of blood in respiration.

Principles of Quantum Mechanics
  • As Applied to Chemistry and Chemical Physics
  • Donald D. Fitts
  • Published online:
    05 June 2012
    Print publication:
    26 August 1999
  • This text presents a rigorous mathematical account of the principles of quantum mechanics, in particular as applied to chemistry and chemical physics. Applications are used as illustrations of the basic theory. The first two chapters serve as an introduction to quantum theory, although it is assumed that the reader has been exposed to elementary quantum mechanics as part of an undergraduate physical chemistry or atomic physics course. Following a discussion of wave motion leading to Schrödinger's wave mechanics, the postulates of quantum mechanics are presented along with essential mathematical concepts and techniques. The postulates are rigorously applied to the harmonic oscillator, angular momentum, the hydrogen atom, the variation method, perturbation theory, and nuclear motion. Modern theoretical concepts such as hermitian operators, Hilbert space, Dirac notation, and ladder operators are introduced and used throughout. This text is appropriate for beginning graduate students in chemistry, chemical physics, molecular physics and materials science.

How to Use Excel® in Analytical Chemistry
  • And in General Scientific Data Analysis
  • Robert de Levie
  • Published online:
    05 June 2012
    Print publication:
    05 February 2001
  • Because of their intuitive layout, extensive mathematical capabilities, and convenient graphics, spreadsheets provide an easy, straightforward route to scientific computing. This textbook for undergraduate and entry-level graduate chemistry and chemical engineering students uses Excel, the most powerful available spreadsheet, to explore and solve problems in general and chemical data analysis. This is the only up-to-date text on the use of spreadsheets in chemistry. The book discusses topics including statistics, chemical equilibria, pH calculations, titrations, and instrumental methods such as chromatography, spectrometry, and electroanalysis. It contains many examples of data analysis, and uses spreadsheets for numerical simulations, and testing analytical procedures. It also treats modern data analysis methods such as linear and non-linear least squares in great detail, as well as methods based on Fourier transformation. The book shows how matrix methods can be powerful tools in data analysis, and how easily these are implemented on a spreadsheet and describes in detail how to simulate chemical kinetics on a spreadsheet. It also introduces the reader to the use of VBA, the macro language of Microsoft Office, which lets the user import higher-level computer programs into the spreadsheet.

The Principles of Chemical Equilibrium
  • With Applications in Chemistry and Chemical Engineering
  • 4th edition
  • K. G. Denbigh
  • Published online:
    05 June 2012
    Print publication:
    26 March 1981
  • This is the fourth edition of an established textbook of chemical thermodynamics used by university and technical college students of chemistry and chemical engineering. The text covers the same ground as previous editions, presenting the general theory of chemical equilibrium, including its statistical development, and illustrating its many applications in the laboratory and industry. This edition has been extensively revised in the light of recent contributions to the literature. Many new references have been added; the re-writing of certain passages, especially of those concerning the statistical interpretation of entropy and the present understanding of order-disorder transitions, also reflects changes of emphasis.

Introduction to Physical Chemistry
  • 3rd edition
  • Mark Ladd
  • Published online:
    05 June 2012
    Print publication:
    22 January 1998
  • The third edition of this text has been completely rewritten and revised. It is intended for first- and second-year undergraduates in chemistry taking physical chemistry courses, and for undergraduates in other science and engineering subjects that require an understanding of chemistry. The author gives more attention to the solid and liquid states than is found in other texts on this subject, and introduces topics such as computer simulation and quasicrystals. Each chapter concludes with a set of problems, to which there are solution notes, designed to lead the reader to familiarity with the subject and its application in new situations. Computer programs designed to assist the reader are downloadable from the World Wide Web, from the time of publication. Detailed solutions to the problems will also be available via the World Wide Web. See http://www.cup.cam.ac.uk/stm/laddsolutions.htm. This modern text on physical chemistry will be of interest to undergraduate students in chemistry and also students in other areas of science and engineering requiring a familiarity with the subject.

Amino Acids and Peptides
  • G. C. Barrett, D. T. Elmore
  • Published online:
    05 June 2012
    Print publication:
    29 October 1998
  • This text is suitable for advanced undergraduate and beginning graduate students in chemistry and biochemistry studying amino acids and peptides. The authors concentrate on amino acids and peptides without detailed discussions of proteins, although the book gives all the essential background chemistry, including sequence determination, synthesis and spectroscopic methods, to enable the reader to appreciate protein behaviour at the molecular level. The approach is intended to encourage the reader to cross classical boundaries, as in the later chapters on the biological roles of amino acids and the design of peptide-based drugs. For example, there is a section on the enzyme-catalysed synthesis of peptides, with suitable examples, an area often neglected in texts describing peptide synthesis. This modern text will be of value in the amino acid, peptide and protein field, to advanced undergraduates, graduate students and research workers.

Mass Spectrometry for Chemists and Biochemists
  • 2nd edition
  • Robert A. W. Johnstone, Malcolm E. Rose
  • Published online:
    05 June 2012
    Print publication:
    17 October 1996
  • This book describes the full range of mass spectrometry techniques and applications. This versatile technique is in ubiquitous use in universities and industry laboratories because of its ability to identify and quantify materials quickly and, if necessary, in minute amounts, and solve analytical problems in a huge variety of fields. The authors adopt an instructional approach and make use of recent examples to illustrate important points. This second edition includes new methods and applications that have developed in the last ten years. Powerful methods combining mass spectrometry with newer separation techniques, the increased use of computers, and analysis of once difficult polar and large-mass compounds such as proteins using new ionisation methods are all discussed. Requiring no previous knowledge of mass spectrometry, this is an ideal teaching text at both undergraduate and postgraduate level, and will also be of considerable interest to research workers.

Rapport historique sur les progrès des sciences naturelles depuis 1789, et sur leur état actuel
  • Edited by Georges Cuvier
  • Published online:
    05 May 2012
    Print publication:
    03 November 2011
    First published in:
    1810
  • In 1808, Napoleon I, Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1815, commissioned a series of official reports on the progress of scientific research since 1789. First published in 1810, this report on the current state of science was written by French naturalist and zoologist Georges Cuvier (1769–1832). One of the first scientists to establish the fields of comparative anatomy and palaeontology, Cuvier became permanent secretary of the Academy of Sciences in 1803. As such, he was charged with examining the state of science in higher educational establishments, and with presenting an overview of the progress accomplished during Napoleon's reign in the fields of chemistry, physics, biology, geology, and medicine. This report includes discoveries made by French scientists, such as the chemist Antoine Lavoisier (1743–94), as well as those made in the countries then under French occupation.

Memoirs of the Life of Sir Humphry Davy
  • Volume 1
  • John Davy
  • Published online:
    05 May 2012
    Print publication:
    03 November 2011
    First published in:
    1836
  • Sir Humphry Davy (1778–1829) was a hugely influential chemist, inventor, and public lecturer who is recognised as one of the first professional scientists. His apprenticeship to an apothecary in 1795 led to his introduction to chemical experiments. A chance meeting with Davis Giddy in 1798 introduced Davy into the wider scientific community, and in 1800 he was invited to a post at the Royal Institution, where he lectured to great acclaim. This two-volume memoir was published by his brother, Dr John Davy, in 1836, in response to Paris' biography of 1831, authorised by Lady Davy (also reissued in this series). John Davy had additional papers in his possession, and felt that Paris had failed to convey Sir Humphry's character as a man and philosopher. Volume 1 deals with his education and apprenticeship, work at the Royal Institution, and European travels. The author quotes extensively from his brother's writings.

Memoirs of the Life of Sir Humphry Davy
  • Volume 2
  • John Davy
  • Published online:
    05 May 2012
    Print publication:
    03 November 2011
    First published in:
    1836
  • Sir Humphry Davy (1778–1829) was a hugely influential chemist, inventor, and public lecturer who is recognised as one of the first professional scientists. His apprenticeship to an apothecary in 1795 led to his introduction to chemical experiments. A chance meeting with Davis Giddy in 1798 introduced Davy into the wider scientific community, and in 1800 he was invited to a post at the Royal Institution, where he lectured to great acclaim. This two-volume memoir was published by his brother, Dr John Davy, in 1836, in response to Paris' biography of 1831, authorised by Lady Davy (also reissued in this series). John Davy had additional papers in his possession, and felt that Paris had failed to convey Sir Humphry's character as a man and philosopher. Volume 2 concentrates on his researches (including on the safety lamp) and travels in Europe. It includes poetry, and also memorials of Davy by friends.

Plant Lectins
  • A. Pusztai
  • Published online:
    05 February 2012
    Print publication:
    06 February 1992
  • This volume surveys the chemistry, biochemistry, biosynthesis, metabolism and pharmacological properties of lectins. Lectins, which are most commonly found in plants, are widespread natural products with striking biological activities. Their specific ability to recognise and bind to simple or complex saccharides facilitates their role as effective information protein molecules. As agents of cell-to-cell recognition, lectins promote symbiosis between plants and specific nitrogen-fixing soil bacteria. As natural defensive molecules, they can protect plants against predators such as bacteria, fungi and insects. As part of our diet, lectins are powerful exogenous growth factors in the small intestine and influence our health, the digestive function and the bacterial ecology of the alimentary tract. Lectins are also important research tools in preparative biochemistry and cell science.

Conversations on Chemistry
  • In which the Elements of that Science are Familiarly Explained and Illustrated by Experiments
  • Volume 2, On Compound Bodies
  • Jane Haldimand Marcet
  • Published online:
    05 November 2011
    Print publication:
    31 October 2010
    First published in:
    1817
  • Jane Haldimand Marcet (1769–1858) was a pioneer in the field of education who wrote accessible introductory books on science and economics. Noting that women's education 'is seldom calculated to prepare their minds for abstract ideas', she resolved to write books that would inform, entertain and improve a generation of female readers. First published anonymously in 1805, her two-volume Conversations on Chemistry swiftly became a standard primer going through sixteen editions in England alone, and is credited with having influenced the young Michael Faraday. Presented as a series of discussions between a fictional tutor, Mrs. Bryan, and her two female students, the flighty Caroline and earnest Emily, Conversations combines entertaining banter with a clear and concise explanation of scientific theories of the day. Volume 2 contains spirited exchanges on topics including 'shells and chalk', borax, decomposing vegetables and 'animal economy', which will interest historians of both science and education.

A New System of Chemical Philosophy
  • Volume 1
  • John Dalton
  • Published online:
    07 September 2011
    Print publication:
    16 September 2010
    First published in:
    1808
  • The chemist and meteorologist John Dalton (1766–1844) published A New System of Chemical Philosophy in two volumes, between 1808 and 1827. Dalton's discovery of the importance of the relative weight and structure of particles of a compound for explaining chemical reactions transformed atomic theory and laid the basis for much of what is modern chemistry. Volume 1 was published in two parts, in 1808 and 1810. Part 1 offers an account of Dalton's atomic theory. It contains chapters on temperature, the constitution of bodies, chemical synthesis and a number of plates including his famous table of symbols for the atoms of various elements. Part 2 contains a chapter on elementary principles and twelve sections on different groups of two-element compounds. Dalton's work is a monument of nineteenth-century chemistry. It will continue to be read and enjoyed by anybody interested in the history and development of science.

Conversations on Chemistry
  • In which the Elements of that Science are Familiarly Explained and Illustrated by Experiments
  • Volume 1, On Simple Bodies
  • Jane Haldimand Marcet
  • Published online:
    05 August 2011
    Print publication:
    31 October 2010
    First published in:
    1817
  • Jane Haldimand Marcet (1769–1858) was a pioneer in the field of education who wrote accessible introductory books on science and economics. Noting that women's education 'is seldom calculated to prepare their minds for abstract ideas', she resolved to write books that would inform, entertain and improve a generation of female readers. First published anonymously in 1805, her two-volume work Conversations on Chemistry swiftly became a standard primer going through sixteen editions in England alone, and is credited with having influenced the young Michael Faraday. Presented as a series of discussions between a fictional tutor, Mrs. Bryan, and her two female students, the flighty Caroline and earnest Emily, Conversations combines entertaining banter with a clear and concise explanation of scientific theories of the day. In Volume 1 the girls are introduced to 'Simple Bodies' through such colourful examples as hot air balloons and the spa waters of Harrogate.

A New System of Chemical Philosophy
  • Volume 2
  • John Dalton
  • Published online:
    13 June 2011
    Print publication:
    16 September 2010
    First published in:
    1827
  • The renowned English chemist and meteorologist John Dalton (1766–1844) published A New System of Chemical Philosophy in two volumes, between 1808 and 1827. Dalton's discovery of the importance of the relative weight and structure of particles of a compound for explaining chemical reactions transformed atomic theory and laid the basis for much of what is modern chemistry. Volume 2 was published in 1827. It contains sections examining the weights and structures of two-element compounds in five different groups: metallic oxides; earthly, alkaline and metallic sulphurets; earthly, alkaline and metallic phosphurets; carburet; and metallic alloys. An appendix contains a selection of brief notes and tables, including a new table of the relative weights of atoms. A planned second part was never published. Dalton's work is a monument of nineteenth-century chemistry. It will continue to be read and enjoyed by anybody interested in the history and development of science.

Goethe the Alchemist
  • A Study of Alchemical Symbolism in Goethe’s Literary and Scientific Works
  • Ronald Douglas Gray
  • Published online:
    10 November 2010
    Print publication:
    17 June 2010
    First published in:
    1952
  • In his autobiography, Goethe half-apologetically admits the youthful enthusiasm he experienced for alchemical and mystical readings: Georg von Welling's obscure Opus Mago-Cabbalisticum et Theosophicum and the anonymously published Aurea Catena Homeri, as well as works by Paracelsus, Basilis Valentinus and van Helmont. Originally published in 1952, this study shows how the symbols and concepts of alchemy played a key role in the genesis of Goethe's later works, both scientific and literary. Author of, among other books on German literature, Goethe: A Critical Introduction (1967) and An Introduction to German Poetry (1965), Ronald D. Gray details Goethe's alchemical readings, and shows how these influences were processed and transformed into a unique blend of scientific and poetic accounts of reality. Unprecedented in its approach, this study will be of interest to readers of German literature, as well as to anyone interested in the history and evolution of mysticism.

Page 1 of 2