BULLETIN FOR THE HISTORY OF CHEMISTRY
Volume 51, 2026
Patterson, Gary D., “The Chemistry Community at the Start of the 18th Century,” Bull. Hist. Chem., 2026, 51, 17-23.
https://doi.org/10.70359/bhc2026v051p017
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Abstract/Description: The Chemistry community at the start of the 18th century was composed of a group of humans with highly variable goals and chemical languages. In spite of this heterogeneity, great progress was achieved by the end. One community was the group of natural historians that observed what was "found in the field" and organized their findings into coherent "affinity groups." Another community was focused on actual chemical reactions between known substances. Geoffroy organized the results into "affinity tables," based on the experimental results. Two natural philosophers, Descartes and Newton, influenced chemical thinking among the academic chemical community during the 18th century. Descartes thought in geometric terms, while Newton envisioned microscopic "atoms and powers." Popular lectures on chemistry were an important part of 18th century chemistry. Nicholas Lemery was an example of a great lecturer and a coherent writer of the Cours de Chimie. In Germany, Chemistry was "Stahlled out," and the European community needed to wait for the 19th century, when "phlogiston" was abandoned. Near the end of the century, the "programme" to create an accurate and coherent language for the chemical community bore fruit. The actual story of chemistry in the 18th century is both complicated and encouraging. In spite of both experimental ignorance and philosophical errors, practicing chemists advanced their craft.