Das Werden der Chemie

From the beginnings of the study of the material world to the quantitative understanding of chemical reactions

Chemistry, as the study of the structure and transformation of substances, holds significant cultural and historical importance for humanity. It has been a long and often misguided journey from mastering fire through alchemical attempts to turn iron into gold, to chemistry as an exact natural science that influences and permeates all areas of life today.

In the first part of the book, the authors describe the genesis of capturing and organizing the diverse phenomena observable in nature and, consequently, in everyday life. The fundamental considerations and ideas are initially developed in an accessible language, avoiding the often confusing formulaic language of chemistry and more complex mathematics. The second part of the book deals with the basic concepts that have emerged from the collected and organized phenomena, providing a coherent description of them. The authors focus on the essentials and consciously refrain from a classical division of the book based on element-specific chemistry. Throughout the description of the basic concepts, the formulaic language of chemistry and its mathematical counterparts are gradually introduced.