Milestones of Science Books

BERTHOLLET, Claude-Louis.

Essai de Statique Chimique.

Paris: Didot, 1803.

1st Edition. Hardcover. 8vo - over 7¾ - 9¾" tall. Very Good. Item #001897

8vo (203x123 mm). 2 volumes, viii, 543 pp.; 555 [1] pp., including half titles. Old library stamps to half titles. Contemporary half leather over marbled boards, spine gilt (hinges repaired), some browning and spotting to pages, marbled endpapers. ----

Norman 221 - FIRST EDITION. Trained as a physician, the French chemist Berthollet attempted to provide a proper basis for chemistry, so that its experimental results could be viewed in the light of theoretical first principles. In his attempt to provide chemistry with an adequate theoretical foundation, Berthollet recognized the importance of the theory of affinity. According to the Essai, there were two main types of force in nature: gravitation, which accounted for astronomical phenomena, and chemical affinity. He proved that Chemical affinity was relative, varying with the physical conditions accompanying a chemical experiment: quantity, temperature, solubility, pressure, and physical state. Berthollet 'introduced the highly important concept of 'chemical mass'-relative affinity combined with the mass of reactants in a chemical combination-to give the total force with which a given quantity of a substance reacted with another' (Norman).

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