Chemistry Reference
In-Depth Information
CHAPTER 7
FROM CHEMISTRY FOR THE PEOPLE TO THE WONDERS
OF TECHNOLOGY: THE POPULARIZATION OF CHEMISTRY
IN THE NETHERLANDS DURING THE
NINETEENTH CENTURY
Ernst Homburg
Department of History, University of Maastricht, P.O. Box 616,
6200 MD Maastricht, The Netherlands; E.Homburg@history.unimaas.nl
This chapter analyzes phases in the production of popular Dutch chem-
istry topics in terms of their audiences and the character of the texts.
While the first popular chemistry topics (1809-1815), which were di-
rected to women, youngsters, and common people, contained moralistic
and physico-theological contemplations, these were absent in topics
that between 1830 and 1844 diffused 'useful knowledge' among the
working classes. The next period (1845-1864) was a hey-day, which
also marked the end of the old style of popularization of chemistry.
After 1865 the number of popular chemistry topics dropped consider-
ably, as a result of (a) the professionalization of chemistry; (b) the
introduction of chemistry as a school subject; and (c) the separation
between science and religion. Until 1900 chemical technology became
almost the exclusive focus of popular chemistry texts.
1. Introduction
1
In August 1965, when half of the Dutch population was on holiday, a
number of men gathered in The Hague, in the office of the Society of the
Dutch Chemical Industry (Vereniging van de Nederlandse Chemische
1
A longer version of this chapter appeared in Dutch (Homburg 1995). I thank the pub-
lisher of
Gewina
for permission to use parts of that article. I thank Ton Brouwers for
translating those parts.
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