Chemistry Reference
In-Depth Information
century some 57 popular chemistry topics (second and later editions in-
cluded) appeared in the Netherlands: 1800-1815, 9; 1816-1829, 0; 1830-
1844, 8; 1845-1864, 30; and 1865-1899, about 10. My major objective is
to present a historical account that explains these different phases and
that shows how developments in popular literature on chemistry are
linked up with changes in the various interrelationships among learned
men, educators, chemists, publishers, and the general public.
2.
Wonders of Nature
The first (text)topics on chemistry for a broad audience appeared in the
closing decades of the eighteenth century. Up to that time, chemistry was
a subject that was taught only to physicians, apothecaries, and mining
engineers - to professionals, in short, who dealt with chemicals directly.
Yet for those interested among the well-to-do there were some alter-
native options to gain chemical knowledge. In the context of special
societies, but also outside of them, it was possible to follow lectures and
courses on the inquiry of nature in the broadest sense. Moreover, there
were a number of accessibly written topics with facts and insights about
nature, some of which also treated chemistry topics. They had an evident
physico-theological bent, just like other eighteenth-century 'popular'
topics on natural philosophy. Also the content's presentation in the first
popular topics on chemistry - namely in the form of dialogues, letters, or
the catechism's question-and-answer structure - seems to be derived
from older popular topics on natural philosophy.
For the Netherlands,
Het regt gebruik der wereltbeschouwingen, ter
overtuiginge van ongodisten en ongelovigen
('The right use of the world
view for the conviction of atheists and infidels', 1715) by Bernard Nieu-
wentijt (1654-1718) is the first in a long series of physico-theological
topics that appeared throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries
(Van Berkel 1985, pp. 78-9; Raichvarg & Jacques 1991, p. 47). As well
as fighting the views of Spinoza and his followers, Nieuwentijt also took
it upon him to explain the wonders of God's creation to 'the untrained'.
If God's existence had to be proven with the help of the 'wonders of na-
ture', this argument would of course benefit from a clear and transparent
