Preface |
Acknowledgements |
Introduction: Chemistry and its Discontents / Chapter 1: |
The Philosophy of Chemistry |
The Image of Chemistry |
The Goals of the Book |
The Structure of the Book |
Chemistry and Pollution / Chapter 2: |
Chemical versus Natural |
Chemistry in Literature |
Silent Spring |
"Better Things for Better Living … Through Chemistry" |
Abundance and Waste |
Courting Disaster |
Artificial or Natural? |
The Damnation of the Alchemist / Chapter 3: |
Magicians or Charlatans |
In Defence of Artifice |
Faustian Ambitions |
From Extracts to Ersatz |
Pure and Applied Chemistry |
Artefacts as Hybrids of Nature and Society |
The Space of the Laboratory / Chapter 4: |
Chemical Recipe Books |
A Space of Toil |
Seeing at a Glance |
A Purified Space |
A Social Space |
An Instrumental Space |
Proof in the Laboratory / Chapter 5: |
Chemical Experiment as Public Spectacle |
Instruments of Decision |
The Power of Scepticism |
The Price of Proof |
The Limits of Proof |
Chemistry Creates its Object / Chapter 6: |
The Different Meanings of Synthesis |
From Simple to Complex |
From Fictions to Artefacts |
A Creative Process |
A Duel Between Two Conceptions of Matter / Chapter 7: |
The Ancient Concept of Phusis |
Atoms versus Elements: Two Rival Systems |
Is Chemistry Aristotelian? |
The Aporia of the Mixt |
Mixes or Compounds, Stahl or Lavoisier |
A Vexing Question |
Chemistry versus Physics / Chapter 8: |
To Each Science its Ontology |
The Ultimate Quest |
No Matter Without Qualities |
No Matter Without Agency |
Atoms or Elements / Chapter 9: |
Mendeleev's Wager |
Renewing Mendeleev's Wager |
Who's Afraid of Reductionism? |
Between the Macro and the Micro |
.Positivism and Chemistry / Chapter 10: |
A Variety of Positivisms |
Chemistry as the Model for Positive Science |
Positivism as an Obstacle? |
Positivism versus Realism |
Atoms as Fictions / Chapter 11: |
Writing Formulae |
Types and Models |
Agnostic Atomism |
Atoms as Mediators |
The Phenomenalist Response |
The Instrumentalist Response |
The Energetist Response |
Agency and Relations / Chapter 12: |
Elements as Actors |
Operational Realism |
Alternative Metaphors |
Taming the Nanoworld / Chapter 13: |
Bottom-Up versus Top-Down |
Rational Design |
Bio-Inspired Chemistry |
The Return of Chemistry's Faustian Ambitions |
The Rise of Chemistry's Philosophical Ambitions |
Towards a Responsible Chemistry / Chapter 14: |
Concerns About the Future |
From Chemist's Creed to Code of Conduct |
From Prudence to Precaution |
A New Chemical Culture? |
Bibliography |
Index |
Preface |
Acknowledgements |
Introduction: Chemistry and its Discontents / Chapter 1: |
The Philosophy of Chemistry |
The Image of Chemistry |
The Goals of the Book |