There are 165 years between Jöns Jacob Berzelius' and Carl Gustaf Bernhard's excursions through the Massif Central in France. In spite of their circumstantial differences, the similarities between the two men of letters is striking. While Berzelius is renowned as one of the founders of modern chemistry and mineralogy, the bulk of Bernhard's achievement has been in the field of neurophysiology--yet both men emerge as having remarkably similar approaches to science and nature. It was as Berzelius' successor to the post of Secretary of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences that first gave Bernhard cause to study his literary remains. This was to provide the inspiration for Bernhard, with Berzelius as his guide, to visit the volcanic landscape, in which the remains of Roman columns, mediaeval castles and cathedrals recalled civilizations which have come and gone through the centuries following the geological eruptions. The book is extensively illustrated with sketches of the countryside, portraits of those known by Berzelius as well as colour photographs of the landscape taken by Bernhard, while the narrative alternates between excerpts of Berzelius' letters and writings and Bernhard's own modern travelogue. The result is a fascinating textual and pictorial record of one of the most beautiful regions of France, and of two highly influential Swedish scientists, spanning the last two centuries.

There are 165 years between J & ouml;ns Jacob Berzelius' and Carl Gustaf Bernhard's excursions through the Massif Central in France. In spite of their circumstantial differences, the similarities between the two men of letters is striking. While Berzelius is renowned as one of the founders of modern chemistry and mineralogy, the bulk of Bernhard's achievement has been in the field of neurophysiology--yet both men emerge as having remarkably similar approaches to science and nature. It was as Berzelius' successor to the post of Secretary of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences that first gave Bernhard cause to study his literary remains. This was to provide the inspiration for Bernhard, with Berzelius as his guide, to visit the volcanic landscape, in which the remains of Roman columns, mediaeval castles and cathedrals recalled civilizations which have come and gone through the centuries following the geological eruptions. The book is extensively illustrated with sketches of the countryside, portraits of those known by Berzelius as well as colour photographs of the landscape taken by Bernhard, while the narrative alternates between excerpts of Berzelius' letters and writings and Bernhard's own modern travelogue. The result is a fascinating textual and pictorial record of one of the most beautiful regions of France, and of two highly influential Swedish scientists, spanning the last two centuries.

Famous for its history of numerous element discoverers, Sweden is the origin of this comprehensive encylopedia of the elements. It provides both an important database for professionals as well as detailed reading ranging from historical facts, discoverers' portraits, colour plates of mineral types, natural occurrences, and industrial figures to winning and refining processes, biological roles and applications in modern chemistry, engineering and industry. Elemental data is presented in fact tables which include numerous physical and thermodynamic properties, isotope lists, radiation absorption characteristics, NMR parameters, and others. Further pertinent data is supplied in additional tables throughout the text. Published in Swedish in three volumes from 1998 to 2000, the contents have been revised and expanded by the author for this English edition.

Historians and philosophers of science offer 18 papers from a European Science Foundation workshop held in Uppsala, Sweden, in February 1996, explore such questions as how textbooks differ from other forms of chemical literature, under what conditions they become established as a genre, whether they develop a specific rhetoric, how their audiences help shape the profile of chemistry, translations, and other topics. Only names are indexed.

Joseph Berzelius (1779-1848), one of the world's leading scientists in the first half of the nineteenth century, dominated the field of chemistry, animated the cultural life of his native Sweden, and served for three decades as secretary of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. Despite his immense stature, modern studies have underestimated his significance. This volume remedies the scarcity of accessible, modern assessments of Berzelius by bringing to a broad audience the results of recent scholarship, and it offers an enhanced assessment of his originality and influence.

Thinking about the Earth is a history of the geological tradition of Western science. David Oldroyd traverses such topics as "mechanical" and "historicist" views of the earth, map-work, chemical analyses of rocks and minerals, geomorphology, experimental petrology, seismology, theories of mountain building, and geochemistry.

The first introductory A–Z resource on the dynamic achievements in science from the late 1600s to 1820, including the great minds behind the developments and science's new cultural role. Though the Enlightenment was a time of amazing scientific change, science is an often-neglected facet of that time. Now, Science in the Enlightenment redresses the balance by covering all the major scientific developments in the period between Newton's discoveries in the late 1600s to the early 1800s of Michael Faraday and Georges Cuvier. Over 200 A-Z entries explore a range of disciplines, including astronomy and medicine, scientists such as Sir Humphry Davy and Benjamin Franklin, and instruments such as the telescope and calorimeter. Emphasis is placed on the role of women, and proper attention is given to the shifts in the worldview brought about by Newtonian physics, Antoine-Laurent Lavoisier's "chemical revolution," and universal systems of botanical and zoological classification. Moreover, the social impact of science is explored, as well as the ways in which the work of scientists influenced the thinking of philosophers such as Voltaire and Denis Diderot and the writers and artists of the romantic movement.

This new edition of the highly regarded Biographical Encyclopedia of Scientists focuses on the achievements of 2400 scientists, explaining the nature and importance of those achievements. The book covers traditional science, including physics, chemistry, biology, astronomy, and earth science, along with mathematics, engineering, technology, and computer science. It also includes key figures from anthropology, psychology, and the philosophy of science. This fully updated edition features pronunciation guidelines, quotations, website links, and suggestions for further reading. Each cross-referenced entry includes chronology, institution, publication, and discipline.

After looking at the early careers of Wurtz's two mentors, Liebig and Jean-Baptiste Dumas, Rocke describes Wurtz's life and career in the politically complex period leading up to 1853. He then discusses the turning point in Wurtz's intellectual life—his conversion to the "reformed chemistry" of Laurent, Gerhardt, and Williamson—and his efforts to persuade his colleagues of the advantages of the new system. In 1869, Adolphe Wurtz (1817-1884) called chemistry "a French science." In fact, however, Wurtz was the most internationalist of French chemists. Born in Strasbourg and educated partly in the laboratory of the great Justus Liebig, he spent his career in Paris, where he devoted himself to introducing German ideas into French scientific circles. His life therefore provides an excellent vehicle for considering the divergent trajectories of French and German chemistry—and, by extension, French and German science—during this crucial period. After looking at the early careers of Wurtz's two mentors, Liebig and Jean-Baptiste Dumas, Rocke describes Wurtz's life and career in the politically complex period leading up to 1853. He then discusses the turning point in Wurtz's intellectual life—his conversion to the "reformed chemistry" of Laurent, Gerhardt, and Williamson—and his efforts (social and political, as well as scientific) to persuade his colleagues of the advantages of the new system. He looks at political patronage, or the lack thereof, and at the insufficient material support from the French government, during the middle decades of the century. From there Rocke goes on to examine the rivalry between Wurtz and Marcellin Berthelot, the debate over atoms versus equivalents, and the reasons for Wurtz's failure to win acceptance for his ideas. The story offers insights into the changing status of science in this period, and helps to explain the eventual course of both French and German chemistry.