Introduction and Overview - Important Figures of Analytical Chemistry from Germany in Brief Biographies - page 3

Thomas Thomson in his History of Chemistry gives considerable details under
the heading Progress of Analytical Chemistry of the period of the development
what are now called that of classical methods. From the progress made in the late
eighteenth century by Martin Heinrich Klaproth (1743-1814) by his substitution
of silver crucibles for the iron crucibles used by Bergmann to that made in the
early nineteenth century by William Hyde Wollaston (1767-1829) by his introduc-
tion of platinum crucibles [ 5 ]. This account was followed by von Meyer in his now
classic, A History of Chemistry: From the Earliest times to the Current Day [ 6 ]
who divided his account of analytical chemistry as follows: qualitative analysis
of inorganic substances, quantitative analysis of inorganic substances, volumetric
analysis, methods of gas analysis and finally, the analysis of organic substances
[ 6 a]. He reviewed the chemical literature, the manuals, textbooks and journals.
Concerning the most recent textbooks of technico-chemical methods, he noted,
in particular, the development of methods for the analysis of articles of food and
drink, the importance of which is shown by the increasing provision for instruction
in it [ 6 b]. The significant contributions to the growth of chemical instruction in
the nineteenth century by German chemical institutions and their influence abroad
were well recognized by the end of the nineteenth century [ 6 c].
The first comprehensive free-standing account of the history of analytical
chemistry as such is that due to Szabadváry [ 7 , 8 ] in 1966. Starting with the earli-
est knowledge of analysis in antiquity, followed by those in the middle ages, the
periods of iatrochemistry and of phlogiston, he continues to the establishment of
the fundamental laws of chemistry, qualitative and gravimetric analysis and volu-
metric analysis. The material in the modern period focussed on instrumental meth-
ods of organic analysis, of electrochemical and of optical methods and briefly on
radiochemical and chromatographic methods. This seminal account was followed
by Laitinen and Ewing's monograph in which the editors chose to de-emphasize
the early work covered in the general histories of chemistry and focus on the more
modern period [ 9 ]. The topics covered are developments in chemical methods of
analysis, analytical spectroscopy, electrochemical chemistry, separations and lastly
the common features of instruments and signal processing instrumentation. Overall
this is an excellent, well-illustrated account but suffers from the serious omission of
all biographical data, which was made available at the time of publication via a set
of microfiche cards, but which now cannot be acquired. The development of chemi-
cal instrumentation in the twentieth century was the subject of a conference in 2000
which resulted in an interesting multi-authored volume From Classical to Modern
Chemistry: The Instrumental Revolution [ 10 ]. In addition to describing the devel-
opment of specific techniques and many of the personalities involved, this volume
places the techniques in their social, economic and political contexts. Furthermore,
the impact of instrumentation on all branches of chemistry and on the biomedical
and environmental sciences is outlined. Since these three accounts, Hudson has
listed the reviews of the development of analytical chemistry in specific countries
and further expanded the number and variety of instrumental methods to include
thermal methods [ 11 ].