Chemistry and physics (nonfiction)
Chemistry and physics.
What made scientists think that chemistry is reducible to physics and when did that happen?
Conifold
The talk of reduction has origins in philosophy of 20th century, Carnap and Neurath in the 1930s and especially Nagel's model of 1949, see SEP. References by scientists are second hand. It should also be said that the current mainstream is that chemistry has not been reduced to physics, although that was what earlier analytic philosophers believed, and full reducibility is implausible for structural reasons, see Chemical Reduction.
–Conifold
Mauro ALLEGRANZA
See Physical chemistry: History: The term "physical chemistry" was coined by Mikhail Lomonosov in 1752, when he presented a lecture course entitled "A Course in True Physical Chemistry".Modern physical chemistry originated in the 1860s to 1880s with work on chemical thermodynamics, electrolytes in solutions, chemical kinetics and other subjects. One milestone was the publication in 1876 by Josiah Willard Gibbs of his paper, On the Equilibrium of Heterogeneous Substances.
Also relevant John Dalton's Atomic Theory (1808). –
—Mauro ALLEGRANZA
Barmar
My guess is that it started with the development of the Periodic Table. When they found that chemical properties obeyed a pattern, it was natural to look for a correlation with physical structures.
–Barmar
JimmyJames
"When and why did scientists just start assuming that chemistry is reducible to physics?" I'm not sure that 'assuming' is the right word here. Obviously, making assumptions is part of the process of science, but that's not why we care about it. That sounds almost like anti-science rhetoric. The only thing that really matters in science is what can be demonstrated. Assumptions can vary from person to person and carry little weight.
–JimmyJames
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