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Essays


Chemical reactions as causes?
Investigating chemical reactions philosophically can shed light into our understanding of their nature in ways we haven't thought of before.
Vanessa Seifert
Nov 18, 20244 min read
74 views
4 comments

Control strategies in the discovery of Argon
Control strategies were integral parts of the research that led to the discovery of Argon.
Vasiliki Christopoulou and Theodore Arabatzis
Nov 5, 20245 min read
45 views
3 comments

Designing and predicting proteins – Why is the Nobel Prize for Chemistry so intriguing?
What is so fascinating about this year's Nobel Prize in Chemistry?
Francesca Bellazzi
Oct 19, 20244 min read
285 views
0 comments


What are Molecules and are Molecules Made of Atoms?
The question which forms the title of this essay is simple enough and, to my mind, merits a simple and unequivocal answer: yes.
Nicholas C. Norman
Aug 17, 20247 min read
98 views
0 comments


Bridging the gap between chemistry and society: natural and artificial from a history of flavour’s perspective
How studying the history of synthetic flavouring agents can help us understand science, industry, society and the relations between them.
Paulina S. Gennermann
Jul 5, 20245 min read
85 views
0 comments


Putting the Senses to Chemical Use
Despite the modernisation brought about by the "New Chemistry", the senses have continued to play an important role in chemical practice.
Armel Cornu
Oct 18, 20235 min read
69 views
0 comments

Kuhn, the Discovery of Chemical Elements, and the Social Nature of Scientific Inquiry
Thomas Kuhn discusses the Chemical Revolution in some detail in The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, that is, the great changes in...
K. Brad Wray
Aug 28, 20235 min read
157 views
0 comments


Let’s promote a feminist philosophy of chemistry!
In this post, Vanessa Seifert reflects on some interesting questions to pursue in the context of a feminist philosophy of chemistry
Vanessa Seifert
Mar 10, 20234 min read
137 views
0 comments


The Ardystil Syndrome Case: when chemicals cross through textile factory, hospital and laboratory
In the Ardystil occupational intoxication case, interactions with chemical changed according to the different contexts.
Sofiya Kamalova
Sep 26, 20227 min read
230 views
0 comments


Genes: from instruments of thought to the base of life
Does the way we think about scientific entities matter to scientific practice?
Francesca Bellazzi
Sep 7, 20225 min read
340 views
1 comment


How do we know when water is safe to drink? The early modern origins of water analysis
Before plumbing infrastructure reached most homes, chemistry was crucial in developing a method to evaluate the safety of drinking water.
Armel Cornu
Aug 23, 20227 min read
90 views
0 comments


The contributions of Geoffrey Blumenthal: From Copernicus’s astronomy to Lavoisier’s chemistry
The contributions of Geoffrey Blumenthal to the history and philosophy of science
James Ladyman & Vanessa Seifert
May 24, 20225 min read
293 views
0 comments


The superpowers of proteins
Nowadays we all care about our proteins. Supermarket products proudly show the amount of proteins they contain and we are all somehow...
Francesca Bellazzi
May 5, 20226 min read
496 views
0 comments


Beyond Cartesian Mechanicism: Robert Boyle’s Chemical Philosophy
Central themes of Marina Paola Banchetti-Robino's book "The Chemical Philosophy of Robert Boyle: Mechanicism, Chymical Atoms, and Emergence"
Marina Paola Banchetti-Robino
Apr 15, 20225 min read
184 views
0 comments


Was the Invention of Agent Orange an Invention at All?
Agent Orange was born from the knowledge that certain known substances kill plants. But could this knowledge claim constitute an invention?
Alison McManus
Feb 14, 20228 min read
441 views
0 comments

The True Story of How a False Theory Led to the Discovery of Boron
Can false theories successfully predict previously unknown phenomena? This post discusses one such example: the discovery of boron.
Jonathon Hricko
Jan 20, 20224 min read
360 views
0 comments


Understanding chemical substance (is harder than you might think)
What is a chemical substance? In this post, Marabel Riesmeier argues that answering this question is more complicated than one might think.
Marabel Riesmeier
Nov 26, 20215 min read
310 views
0 comments


How to identify simple substances: chlorine vs. oxymuriatic acid
How are simple substances identified when it is difficult to tell whether a substance has been decomposed or not?
Sarah Hijmans
Nov 9, 20216 min read
225 views
0 comments


Cipher Treasure Hunt Part II: A Secret Key Hidden in Plain Sight
Megan Piorko updates us on the quest to solve a historical cipher. It turns out the secret key was hidden in plain sight...
Megan Piorko
Oct 26, 20213 min read
860 views
0 comments


Cipher Treasure Hunt
In this post, Megan Piorko and Sarah Lang take us along on their alchemical quest to solve a historical cipher.
Megan Piorko & Sarah Lang
Jun 29, 20214 min read
2,711 views
1 comment
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