Kant's theory of judgment establishes the conceptual framework for understanding the subtle relationships between the experimental scientist, the modern instrument, and nature's atomic particles. The principle of purposiveness which governs judgment has also a role in implicitly guiding modern experimental science. In Part 1 we explore Kant's philosophy of science as he shows how knowledge of material nature and unobservable entities is possible. In Part 2 we examine the way in which Kant's treatment of judgment, with its operating principle of (...) purposiveness, enters into his critical project and underlies the possibility of rational science. In Part 3 we show that the centrality given to judgment in Kant's conception of science provides philosophical insight into the investigation of atomic substances in modern chemistry. (shrink)

The London Institution, established in the City of London in 1807, was devoted, as its full title proclaimed, to the 'advancement of Literature and the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge'. With its extensive lecture programme, splendid reference library, reading rooms, laboratory and other amenities, it provided for its members a scientific and cultural centre, modelled on the highly successful and fashionable Royal Institution in London's West End. Among its scientific activities, chemistry long maintained a leading role, in terms of both the (...) sheer volume and variety of its presentations, and the high standing of its lecturers; they included Faraday, Playfair, Hofmann, Roscoe, Odling, Norman Lockyer, Meldola, and Sir William Ramsay, as well as other visiting lecturers, specially selected for their ability to present their subject in an interesting and attractive fashion to a wider lay public. The laboratory of the Institution, although limited in size and facilities, was the scene of instruction in practical chemistry, and between 1863 and 1884 attained the reputation of a significant centre of chemical research during the successive tenure of the professorship in chemistry by J. A. Wanklyn and H. E. Armstrong. Their publications, appearing under the device 'From the Laboratory of the London Institution', were a frequent feature of the leading chemical periodicals. Thus, within its many-sided activities, the Institution promoted significantly the public appreciation of the function of chemistry, as a contributor both to pure knowledge, and to technical and economic progress. It achieved this in an environment of influential City merchants, manufacturers and financiers and doubtless led to beneficient, if unrecorded, consequences. It was only towards the close of the nineteenth century, when the universities had become increasingly concerned with the systematic study of the discipline, that chemistry lost its direct impact in the London Institution, but continued to maintain a presence within its cultural framework. (shrink)

Mit 78 Jahren bekannte Goethe: "Die Naturwissenschaft, besonders die Chemie, ist so lebendig, daß man auf die angenehmste Weise wieder jung wird." Daß Goethes Beschäftigung mit der Chemie sich nicht auf alchimistische Salonexperimente beschränkte, belegt diese ungewöhnliche Biographie zum Goethe-Jahr 1999. Georg Schwedt folgt den Spuren des Chemikers Goethe in dessen Werken, Briefen, Tagebüchern und naturwissenschaftlichen Schriften. Das erstaunliche Ergebnis: Goethe war auch in der Chemie seiner Zeit weit voraus. Er förderte nicht nur die Entwicklung der Chemie als eigenständige Wissenschaft. (...) Er experimentierte auch selbst, und die Aktualität seiner Ansätze ist durch moderne Untersuchungen bestätigt. Goethe und die Chemie: eine wahrhaft spannende Verbindung. Georg Schwedt beschreibt sie ausgesprochen interessant und unterhaltsam. Chemiker und Goethe-Liebhaber können sich auf eine ebenso anregende wie informative Lektüre freuen. (shrink)