Prehistoric Times: Beginning Of The Christian Era

1. Prehistoric Times - Beginning of the Christian Era (Black Magic)

Existence of Fire

Arguably the first chemical reaction used in a controlled manner was fire. However, for millennia fire was simply a mystical force that could transform one substance into another while producing heat and light. Fire affected many aspects of early societies. These ranged from the simplest facets of everyday life, such as cooking and habitat lighting, to more advanced technologies, such as pottery, bricks, and melting of metals to make tools.

a. 2600 BC – The Rise of Metallurgy
It was fire that led to the discovery of glass and the purification of metals which in turn gave way to the rise of metallurgy. During the early stages of metallurgy, methods
of purification of metals were sought, and gold, known in ancient Egypt as early as 2600 BC, became a precious metal. The discovery of alloys heralded the Bronze Age. After the Bronze Age, the history of metallurgy was marked by which army had better weaponry. Countries in Eurasia had their heyday when they made the superior alloys, which, in turn, made better armour and better weapons. This often determined the outcomes of battles. Significant progress in metallurgy and alchemy was made in ancient India.

b. 1700 BC - King Hammurabi's reign over Babylon
Known metals were recorded and listed in conjunction with heavenly bodies.

c. 430 BC - Democritus of ancient Greece
Democritus proclaims the atom to be the simplest unit of matter. All matter was composed of atoms.

d. 300 BC Aristotle of ancient Greece
Aristotle declares the existence of only four elements: fire, air, water and earth. All matter is made up of these four elements and matter had four properties: hot, cold, dry and wet.

2. Beginning of the Christian Era - End of 17th Century (Alchemy)

a. 300 BC - 300 AD The Advent of the Alchemists
Influenced greatly by Aristotle's ideas, alchemists attempted to transmute cheap metals to gold. The substance used for this conversion was called the Philosopher's Stone.

b. 1520 - Elixir of Life
Alchemists not only wanted to convert metals to gold, but they also wanted to find a chemical concoction that would enable people to live longer and cure all ailments. This elixir of life never happened either.

c. End of 17th Century - Death of Alchemy
The disproving of Aristotle's four-elements theory and the publishing of the book, The Skeptical Chemist (by Robert Boyle), combined to destroy this early form of chemistry.

3. End of 17th Century - Mid 19th Century (Traditional Chemistry) a. 1700's - Phlogiston Theory
Johann J. Beecher believed in a substance called phlogiston. When a substance is burned, phlogiston was supposedly added from the air to the flame of the burning object. In some substances, a product is produced. For example, calx of mercury plus phlogiston gives the product of mercury.
Coulomb's Law
Charles Coulomb discovered that given two particles separated by a certain distance, the force of attraction or repulsion is directly proportional to the product of the two charges and is inversely proportional to the distance between the two charges.

b. 1774-1794 - Disproving of the Phlogiston Theory
Joseph Priestley heated calx of mercury, collected the colorless gas and burned different substances in this colorless gas. Priestley called the gas "dephlogisticated air", but it was actually oxygen. It was Antoine Lavoisier who disproved the Phlogiston Theory. He renamed the "dephlogisticated air" oxygen when he realized that the oxygen was the part of air that combines with substances as they burn. Because of Lavoisier's work, Lavoisier is now called the "Father of Modern Chemistry".

c. 1803 - Dalton's Atomic Theory
John Dalton publishes his Atomic Theory which states that all matter is composed of atoms, which are small and indivisible. 4. Mid 19th Century – Present (Modern Chemistry or 20th Century Chemistry)
a. Organic Chemistry
Scientists were able to synthesize hundreds of organic compounds.

b. 1854 - Vacuum Tube
Heinrich Geissler creates the first vacuum tube.

c. 1879 - Cathode Rays
William Crookes made headway in modern atomic theory when he used the vacuum tube made by Heinrich Geissler to discover cathode rays. Crookes created a glass vacuum tube which had a zinc sulfide coating on the inside of one end, a metal cathode imbedded in the other end and a metal anode in the shape of a cross in the middle of the tube. When electricity was run through the apparatus, an image of the cross appeared and the zinc sulfide glowed. Crookes hypothesized that there must have been rays coming from the cathode which caused the zinc sulfide to fluoresce and the cross to create a shadow and these rays were called cathode rays.

d. 1885 - The Proton
Eugene Goldstein discovered positive particles by using a tube filled with hydrogen gas.

e. 1895 - X-rays
Wilhelm Roentgen accidentally discovered x-rays while researching the glow produced by cathode rays. Roentgen performed his research on cathode rays within a dark room and during his research, he noticed that a bottle of barium platinocyanide was glowing on a shelf. He discovered that the rays that were causing the fluorescence could also pass through glass, cardboard and walls. The rays were called x-rays.

f. 1896 - Pitchblend
Henri Becquerel was studying the fluorescence of pitchblend when he discovered a property of the pitchblend compound. Pitchblend gave a fluorescent light with or without the aid of sunlight.

g. 1897 - The Electron and Its Properties
J.J. Thomson placed the Crookes' tube within a magnetic field. He found that the cathode rays were negatively charged and that each charge had a mass ratio of 1.759E8 coulombs per gram. He concluded that all atoms have this negative charge (through more experiments) and he renamed the cathode rays electrons. His model of the atom showed a sphere of positively charged material with negative electrons stuck in it. Thomson received the 1906 Nobel Prize in physics.
Radioactive Elements
Marie Curie discovered uranium and thorium within pitchblend. She then continued to discover two previously unknown elements: radium and polonium. These two new elements were also found in pitchblend. She received two nobel prizes for her discovery; one was in chemistry while the other was in physics.

h. 1909 - Mass of the Electron
Robert Millikan discovered the mass of an electron by introducing charged oil droplets into an electrically charged field. The charge of the electron was found to be 1.602E-19 coulombs. Using Thomson's mass ration, Millikan found the mass of one electron to be 9.11E-28 grams. Millikan received the 1932 Nobel Prize in Physics for this discovery.

i. 1911 - Three Types of Radioactivity
Ernest Rutherford sent a radioactive source through a magnetic field. Some of the radioactivity was deflected to the positive plate; some of it was deflected to the negative plate; and the rest went through the magnetic field without deflection. Thus, there were three types of radioactivity: alpha particles (+), beta particles (-) and gamma rays (neutral). By performing other experiments and using this information, Rutherford created an atomic model different from Thomson's. Rutherford believed that the atom was mostly empty space. It contains an extremely tiny, dense positively charged nucleus (full of protons) and the nucleus is surrounded by electrons traveling at extremely high speeds. The Thomson model was thrown out after the introduction of the Rutherford model.

j. 1914 - Protons within a Nucleus
Henry Moseley attempts to use x-rays to determine the number of protons in the nucleus of each atom. He was unsuccessful because the neutron had not been discovered yet.

k. 1932 - The Neutron
Neutron Bombardment and Nuclear Fission
James Chadwick discovers the neutron.
Enrico Fermi bombards elements with neutrons and produces elements of the next highest atomic number. Nuclear fission occurred when Fermi bombarded uranium with neutrons. He received the 1938 Nobel Prize in physics.

l. 1934 - Artificial Radioactive Elements
Irene Curie and Frederic Joliot-Curie discovered that radioactive elements could be created artificially in the lab with the bombardment of alpha particles on certain elements. They were given the 1935 Nobel Prize.

m. 1940's - Manhattan Project
Albert Einstein and Enrico Fermi both warned the United States about Germany's extensive research on atomic fission reaction. Below the football field at the University of Chicago, the United States developed the very first working nuclear fission reactor. The Manhattan Project was in process.

HISTORY OF INORGANIC CHEMISTRY

Ancient Egyptians pioneered the art of synthetic "wet" chemistry up to 4,000 years ago. By 1000 BC ancient civilizations were using technologies that formed the basis of the various branches of chemistry such as; extracting metal from their ores, making pottery and glazes, fermenting beer and wine, making pigments for cosmetics and painting, extracting chemicals from plants for medicine and perfume, making cheese, dying cloth, tanning leather, rendering fat into soap, making glass, and making alloys like bronze.
Democritus' atomist philosophy was later adopted by Epicurus (341–270 BCE).The genesis of chemistry can be traced to the widely observed phenomenon of burning that led to metallurgy—the art and science of processing ores to get metals (e.g. metallurgy in ancient India). The greed for gold led to the discovery of the process for its purification, even though the underlying principles were not well understood—it was thought to be a transformation rather than purification. Many scholars in those days thought it reasonable to believe that there exist means for transforming cheaper (base) metals into gold. This gave way to alchemy and the search for the Philosopher's Stone which was believed to bring about such a transformation by mere touch.

Greek atomism dates back to 440 BC, as what might be indicated by the book "De Rerum Natura" written by the Roman Lucretius in 50 BC. Much of the early development of purification methods is described by Pliny the Elder in his Naturalis Historia.

A tentative outline is as follows:

1.Egyptian alchemy [3,000 BCE – 400 BCE], formulate early "element" theories such as the Ogdoad.
2. Greek alchemy [332 BCE – 642 CE], the Greek king Alexander the Great conquers Egypt and founds Alexandria, having the world's largest library, where scholars and wise men gather to study.
3. Arab alchemy [642 CE – 1200], the Muslim conquest of Egypt (primarily Alexandria); development of the Scientific Method by Alhazen and Jabir ibn Hayyan revolutionize the field of Chemistry. Jabir accepted many of the ideas of Aristotle but also modified Aristotle's ideas.
4. The House of Wisdom, Al-Andalus and Alexandria become the world leading institutions where scientists of all religious and ethnic backgrounds worked together in harmony expanding the reaches of Chemistry in a time known as the Islamic Golden Age.
5. Arabs and Persians continue to dominate the field of Chemistry, mastering it and expanding the boundaries of knowledge and experimentation. Besides technical advances in processes and apparatus, the Arabs had developed and improved the purity of substances such as alcohols, acids, and gunpowder, which were not available to the
Europeans.
6. European alchemy [1300 – present], Pseudo-Geber builds on Arabic chemistry.[citation needed] From the 12th century, major advances in the chemical arts shifted from Arab lands to western Europe.
7. Chemistry [1661], Boyle writes his classic chemistry text The Sceptical Chymist.
8. Chemistry [1787], Lavoisier writes his classic Elements of Chemistry.
9. Chemistry [1803], Dalton publishes his Atomic Theory.
10. Chemistry [1869], Dmitry Mendeleev presented his Periodic Table being the framework of the modern chemistry

The earliest pioneers of Chemistry, and inventors of the modern scientific method, were medieval Arab and Persian scholars. They introduced precise observation and controlled experimentation into the field and discovered numerous Chemical substances.

"Chemistry as a science was almost created by the Muslims; for in this field, where the Greeks were confined to industrial experience and vague hypothesis, the Saracens introduced precise observation, controlled experiment, and careful records. They invented and named the alembic (al-anbiq), chemically analyzed innumerable substances, composed lapidaries, distinguished alkalis and acids, investigated their affinities, studied and manufactured hundreds of drugs. Alchemy, which the Muslims inherited from Egypt, contributed to chemistry by a thousand incidental discoveries, and by its method, which was the most scientific of all medieval operations."

"Chemistry as a science was almost created by the Muslims; for in this field, where the Greeks were confined to industrial experience and vague hypothesis, the Saracens introduced precise observation, controlled experiment, and careful records.
They invented and named the alembic (al-anbiq), chemically analyzed innumerable substances, composed lapidaries, distinguished alkalis and acids, investigated their affinities, studied and manufactured hundreds of drugs. Alchemy, which the Muslims inherited from Egypt, contributed to chemistry by a thousand incidental discoveries, and by its method, which was the most scientific of all medieval operations."

The most influential Muslim chemists were Jabir ibn Hayyan (Geber, d. 815), al-Kindi (d. 873), al-Razi (d. 925), al-Biruni (d. 1048) and Alhazen (d. 1039). The works of Jabir became more widely known in Europe through Latin translations by a pseudo-Geber in 14th century Spain, who also wrote some of his own books under the pen name "Geber". The contribution of Indian alchemists and metallurgists in the development of chemistry was also quite
significant.

The emergence of chemistry in Europe was primarily due to the recurrent incidence of the plague and blights there during the so called Dark Ages. This gave rise to a need for medicines. It was thought that there exists a universal medicine called the Elixir of Life that can cure all diseases but like the Philosopher's Stone, it was never found.

Antoine-Laurent de Lavoisier is considered the "Father of Modern Chemistry”. For some practitioners, alchemy was an intellectual pursuit, over time, they got better at it. Paracelsus (1493–1541), for example, rejected the 4-elemental theory and with only a vague understanding of his chemicals and medicines, formed a hybrid of alchemy and science in what was to be called iatrochemistry. Similarly, the influences of philosophers such as Sir Francis Bacon (1561–1626) and René Descartes (1596–1650), who demanded more rigors in mathematics and in removing bias from scientific observations, led to a scientific revolution. In chemistry, this began with Robert Boyle (1627–1691), who came up with an equation known as Boyle's Law about the characteristics of gaseous state.

Chemistry indeed came of age when Antoine Lavoisier (1743–1794), developed the theory of Conservation of mass in 1783; and the development of the Atomic Theory by John Dalton around 1800. The Law of Conservation of Mass resulted in the reformulation of chemistry based on this law [citation needed] and the oxygen theory of combustion, which was largely based on the work of Lavoisier. Lavoisier's fundamental contributions to chemistry were a result of a conscious effort [citation needed] to fit all experiments into the framework of a single theory. He established the consistent use of the chemical balance, used oxygen to overthrow the phlogiston theory, and developed a new system of chemical nomenclature and made contribution to the modern metric system. Lavoisier also worked to translate the archaic and technical language of chemistry into something that could be easily understood by the largely uneducated masses, leading to an increased public interest in chemistry. All these advances in chemistry led to what is usually called the chemical revolution. The contributions of Lavoisier led to what is now called modern chemistry—the chemistry that is studied in educational institutions all over the world. It is because of these and other contributions that Antoine Lavoisier is often celebrated as the "Father of Modern Chemistry".[21] The later discovery of Friedrich Wöhler that many natural substances, organic compounds, can indeed be synthesized in a chemistry laboratory also helped the modern chemistry to mature from its infancy.[22]

The discovery of the chemical elements has a long history from the days of alchemy and culminating in the discovery of the periodic table of the chemical elements by Dmitri Mendeleev (1834–1907) and later discoveries of some synthetic elements

Reference: http://www.columbia.edu/itc/chemistry/chem-c2507/navbar/chemhist.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_chemistry

http://news-showbuzz.blogspot.com/2010/11/history-of-inorganic-chemistry.html

http://www.3rd1000.com/history/inorg.htm

1. Inorganic Chemistry

Inorganic chemistry is the study of the synthesis and behavior of inorganic and organometallic compounds

2. Organic Chemistry

Organic chemistry is that branch of chemistry that deals with the structure, properties, and reactions of compounds that contain carbon. It is a highly creative science. Organic molecules contain both carbon and hydrogen. Though many organic chemicals also contain other elements, it is the carbon-hydrogen bond that defines them as organic.

3. Biochemistry

Biochemistry, sometimes called biological chemistry, is the study of chemical processes in living organisms, including, but not limited to, living matter. Biochemistry governs all living organisms and living processes. Biochemistry is the study of the structure, composition, and chemical reactions of substances in living systems. Biochemistry emerged as a separate discipline when scientists combined biology with organic, inorganic, or physical chemistry and began to study such topics as how living things obtain energy from food, the chemical basis of heredity, and what fundamental changes occur in disease. Biochemistry includes the sciences of molecular biology; immunochemistry; neurochemistry; and bioinorganic, bioorganic, and biophysical chemistry.

4. Nuclear Chemistry

Nuclear chemistry is the subfield of chemistry dealing with radioactivity, nuclear processes and nuclear properties. It is the chemistry of radioactive elements such as the actinides, radium and radon together with the chemistry associated with equipment (such as nuclear reactors) which are designed to perform nuclear processes. This includes the corrosion of surfaces and the behavior under conditions of both normal and abnormal operation (such as during an accident). An important area is the behavior of objects and materials after being placed into a nuclear waste storage or disposal site. Nuclear chemistry deals with the nuclei of atoms breaking apart. Atoms are continually undergoing decay. When studying nuclear chemistry, there is a typical format used to represent specific isotopes. It is the division of chemistry dealing with changes in or transformations of the atomic nucleus. It includes spontaneous and induced radioactivity, the fission or splitting of nuclei, and their fusion, or union; also the properties and behaviors of the reaction products and their separation and analysis. The reactions involving nuclei are usually accompanied by large energy changes, far greater than those of chemical reactions; that are carried out in nuclear reactors for electric power production and manufacture of radioactive isotopes for medical use, also (in research work) in cyclotrons.

5. Radiochemistry

Radiochemistry is the chemistry of radioactive materials, where radioactive isotopes of elements are used to study the properties and chemical reactions of non-radioactive isotopes (often within radiochemistry the absence of radioactivity leads to a substance being described as being inactive as the isotopes are stable). Much of radiochemistry deals with the use of radioactivity to study ordinary chemical reactions.

6. Qualitative Chemistry

It is a branch of chemistry that deals with the identification of elements or grouping of elements present in a sample.

7. Quantitative Chemistry

It is a branch of chemistry that deals with the determination of the amount or percentage of one or more constituents of a sample. A variety of methods is employed for quantitative analyses, which for convenience may be broadly classified as chemical or physical, depending upon which properties are utilized.

8. Analytical Chemistry

Analytical chemistry is the science of obtaining, processing, and communicating information about the composition and structure of matter. In other words, it is the art and science of determining what matter is and how much of it exists.

Analytical chemistry is the study of the separation, identification, and quantification of the chemical components of natural and artificial materials. Qualitative analysis gives an indication of the identity of the chemical species in the sample and quantitative analysis determines the amount of one or more of these components. The separation of components is often performed prior to analysis.

9. Physical Chemistry

Physical chemistry is the study of macroscopic, atomic, subatomic, and particulate phenomena in chemical systems in terms of physical laws and concepts. It applies the principles, practices and concepts of physics such as motion, energy, force, time, thermodynamics, quantum chemistry, statistical mechanics and dynamics.

Physical chemistry is an empirical science. A science is a set of constructs, called theories, that link fragments of experience into a consistent description of natural phenomena. The adjective “empirical” refers to the common experiences from which the theories grow, that is, to experiments. Simple working hypotheses are guessed by imaginative insight or intuition or luck, usually from a study of experiments. This repetitive interplay in time leads to the formulation of theories that correlate the accumulated experimental information and that can predict new phenomena with accuracy.

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