Chemistry Reference
In-Depth Information
rious, images of factories, or of mineral, vegetable, and animal materials
used and produced by them. It was this road that was taken by the popu-
larizers of chemistry after about 1865.
The
Boek der uitvindingen
('Book of Inventions'), published by Si-
jthoff, is the best example of the new popular genre that came into being
at that time. Between 1852 and 1893 eight German editions were pub-
lished, each one revised to such extent that the size of the topic gradually
expanded from two to nine volumes (Thomas 1852, Reuleaux 1889-93).
Between 1857 and 1892 as many as five Dutch adapted versions ap-
peared, the last one in seven volumes. In this series chemistry took up a
prominent place. The last edition devoted a full volume, called
Organic
chemistry in everyday life
, to organic chemical technology (sugar, vine-
gar, soap, gaslight,
etc.
) as well as a volume to inorganic chemical tech-
nology, entitled
Chemistry and technology
(iron and steel, porcelain, gun
powder, paint,
etc.
) (Bosscha 1892ff.). We encounter the same technol-
ogy-colored vision on chemistry in works such as Figuier's
Wonderen
der wetenschap
, and in the six-volume series
De wonderen der techniek
,
with one entire volume devoted to chemistry (Figuier 1867-72, Borger-
hof van den Berg et al. 1906-10;
cf.
Deherrypon 1872). If popularization
before was about the wonders of God's divine creation, the new books
that catered to the general public emphatically put mankind's wondrous
scientific and technological creations center-stage.
11. Conclusion and Outlook
There are four main reasons, I think, for the dramatic change in the popu-
larization of chemistry after about 1860: (1) first and foremost, the intro-
duction of chemistry as a regular subject at secondary schools, which
greatly reduced the need for popular chemistry books for self-instruction;
(2) the professionalization of chemistry, which shifted the role of popu-
larization from an emphasis on the great works of the Creator and on the
general usefulness of science to roles linked to legitimation and recrute-
ment strategies of the chemical profession; (3) changing views on the
relation between science and religion that emphasized the separation of
the two; and (4) last but not least the changing nature of the genre of the
popular book, which increasingly dictated the use of illustrations. The
