A History of Modern Chemistry
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Noboru Hirota has produced a major historical analysis of how the field of chemistry has evolved over centuries. Spanning more than eight hundred pages, this book presents an exhaustive study of the field, showing how ground-breaking discoveries were made and innovative theories were constructed, with personal portrayals and interesting anecdotes of pioneering scholars. Positioning chemistry carefully within the natural sciences, the author rejects the traditional separation of physics, chemistry and biology, defines chemistry broadly as the 'science of atoms and molecules,' and traces its dynamic history with an emphasis on 20th century developments and more recent findings. Professor Hirota himself has spearheaded research in physical chemistry for more than four decades in Japan and the United States, with cutting-edge engagement with magnetic resonance, spectroscopy, and photochemistry. This publication invites specialized researchers to traverse the pathways along which the subject developed into its present form and to understand how their own research fits into the broad scope of science as a whole.
Reviews
"There are many books on the history of chemistry, but few that provide a comprehensive overview of the field up to the modern day. This book admirably fills that need. Overall, this is an excellent book and is strongly recommended." --Choice, Vol. 54, No. 7, March 2017
Awards
Chosen as an Outstanding Academic Title for 2017 by Choice Magazine!!
In addition, the Choice subject editors have chosen "A History of Modern Chemistry" as one of their top favorite 25 titles!
About Editors and Authors
HIROTA Noboru is Professor Emeritus at Kyoto University. He specializes in chemistry and physical chemistry. He graduated from the Faculty of Science, Kyoto University, in 1959 and completed his PhD at Washington University in 1963. After working at the University of Chicago and the State University of New York in the United States, he went on to become Professor in the Faculty of Science at Kyoto University in 1975. He retired from Kyoto University in 2001 and was appointed to his current position.
Table of contents
Prologue
Part 1: Toward the Formation of Modern Chemistry
1: The road to modern chemistry
Chemistry up to the 18th century: The dawn of atomic and molecular science
2: The development of modern chemistry
Chemistry in the 19th century: The establishment of the concepts of atoms and
molecules and the specialization of the discipline into subfields
Part 2: The Birth and Development of Modern Chemistry
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Prologue
Part 1: Toward the Formation of Modern Chemistry
1: The road to modern chemistry
Chemistry up to the 18th century: The dawn of atomic and molecular science
2: The development of modern chemistry
Chemistry in the 19th century: The establishment of the concepts of atoms and
molecules and the specialization of the discipline into subfields
Part 2: The Birth and Development of Modern Chemistry
3: The revolution in physics from the end of the 19th century to the early 20th century
X-rays, radioactivity, discovery of the electron, and quantum chemistry
4: Chemistry in the first half of the 20th century
The maturation and expansion of the science of atoms and molecules
Part 3: Contemporary Chemistry
5: Chemistry in the second half of the 20th century (I)
Advances in the observation, analysis, and fabrication of molecules
6: Chemistry in the second half of the 20th century (II)
An understanding of the phenomena of life based on molecules
7: Chemistry from the 20th century into the future
Epilogue
Afterword