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(1992) The invention of physical science, Dordrecht, Springer.
The traditional narrative of the founding years of physical chemistry begins during the late 1880s, when the profession became established as part of modern physical science primarily through the determined efforts, and achievements, of a troika of scientists: Wilhelm Ostwald, Jacobus Hendricus van "t Hoff and Svante Arrhenius. By the turn of the century, physical chemistry grew into a lively, well-populated and well-organized scientific discipline. Recently, the historiography of physical chemistry has been criticized because it has purportedly relied too heavily on the self-image of turn-of-the-century physical chemists, who saw themselves as distinctive specialists. It has been said that in general the history of physical chemistry has been written "by the public relations writers of the winning side."1
Publication details
DOI: 10.1007/978-94-011-2488-1_8
Full citation:
Kormos Barkan, D. (1992)., A usable past: creating disciplinary space for physical chemistry, in M. J. Nye, J. L. Richards & R. H. Stuewer (eds.), The invention of physical science, Dordrecht, Springer, pp. 175-202.
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