Atomos, Aristotle and Al

chemy
(Chemistry Before
Modern History)
Motivation
The Gnome theory of physics.

The amusing and absurd *gnome theory

of physics that says the universe can be
explained entirely by the actions and
effects of tiny versions of gnomes
(duwende in Philippine
mythology)
For Example:

Gravity – gnomes like the ground.

Gnomes throw small invisible ropes
to the ground. These ropes attach to
unseen hooks that enable muscle-
toned gnomes to pull themselves
toward the ground.
For Example:

There is minimal gravity far from

planetary bodies (in space) because
gnomes don’t have cables long enough
for them. All bodies experience
Gravitational attraction to each other
quite simply because gnomes are, to put
it mildly, sociable
creatures.
 Light – gnomes that make up our eyes
can see what color hats other gnomes are
wearing to make up, say, a table. They
then hi-five gnomes in our 'optical nerve'
who run to tell the brain gnomes what
they have seen. This makes us think we
are seeing a table when in fact,
it's all gnomes.
 States of matter – a solid is little
more than a closely compacted
configuration of gnomes
all holding hands, wearing hats and
having legs. Heating causes gnomes
to become excited or tickled. They
start to loosen their grip of their
neighbors (liquid).
 When gnomes are
tickled, they are no longer able
to hold on and just float away
in groups of one or more (gas).
Sometimes the gnomes get so
excited they catch fire (plasma).
EXPLANATION

Much of our thinking about the universe

began in the same way, that is, with many
different ideas and conjectures. Without
the necessary scientific tools or discipline,
much of what was known about matter
and the universe in the pre-modern era
was a result of discussion,
reflection, and trial-and-error.
EXPLANATION

There were very little evidences or

experimentation involved in
finding explanations. This made
developing scientific ideas about matter
quite difficult. However,
the human need to master our
surroundings led to many developments
in terms of the practical
understanding of matter and materials.
 The Greek philosophers who began
considering the nature of what things were
made of and they were preoccupied with
how the universe seemed to be both
changing and constant.
Leucippus and Democritus
were two of the most important
theorists about the natural and physical
world. They were called physicists in
Ancient Greece.
They considered the idea of
atomism, or the idea that
things are made up of much
smaller things that cannot be
changed nor divided. Among
the features of their theory
were the following:
• Atoms make up most of the
things in the universe; where
there are no atoms, there is a
void.
• Atoms are incredibly small
and cannot be divided, hence
atomos (uncuttable).
• Atoms themselves are solid,
homogeneous and cannot
change.
• Atoms moving about and
colliding in the void cause the
changes we see in our
universe.
 • The shapes, sizes and weights of
individual atoms influence the
characteristics of the thing they
make up; e.g. sharp atoms cause our
tongues to tear and make bitter or
sour tastes, and atoms that compose
clay are joined by flexible joints
which harden when the clay is
baked.
Atomism, although more a philosophical
idea than a scientific one was closest to
our current thinking about matter.
Despite having advocates, atomism was
set aside because more prominent
philosophers opposed it. Religious
groups later declared it as heretical or
blasphemous because they deemed
atomistic thinking denied the existence
of God.
 The concepts of Greek
philosophers and atomists on
the world were simply a result
of reasoning and thought.
They were not necessarily
scientific or empirical (based
on testing or experience)
 Some of the ideas that
served as arguments
against atomism and what
this revealed about how
the Greeks thought about
matter and the world:
 The philosopher Anaxagoras
argued that there was an infinite
number of elementary natural
substances in the form of
infinitesimally small particles
that combined to comprise the
different things in the universe.
• Another theory by a philosopher
named Empedocles stated that
everything is made up of four
eternal and unchanging kinds of
matter, fire, air (all gases), water
(all liquids and metals) and earth
(all solids).
 • The well-known philosopher Plato
further expanded Empedocles’ theory by
saying each of the four kinds of matter is
composed of geometrical solids
(the “Platonic solids”) further divisible
into triangles. When rearranged, these
triangles could cause the apparent
transformations between the four basic
kinds of matter.
 • Aristotle, on the other hand,
believed that the four elements
could be balanced in substances in
an infinite number of ways, and that
when combined gave proportions of
“essential qualities,” hot, dry, cold
and wet. Transformations between
the four elements (or changes in
their balance in a substance) caused
changes in the universe.
 Our concept of matter
didn’t advance much
during this time, the
practical aspect of dealing
with substances, matter
and materials flourished in
different civilizations
before and after the
Greeks:
 • The Mesopotamians had
techniques to utilize metals
like gold and copper. They
even assigned certain
symbols to match metals with
the heavenly bodies such as
the Sun and Moon. They also
made use of other materials
such as dyes, glass, paints,
and perfumes.
• The Egyptians adapted
techniques from the
Mesopotamians and
perfected the use of
bronze, dye and glass
that the Greeks later
copied.
 • The Chinese also had their own
processes for metalwork and
ceramic materials, but they
especially focused on finding
minerals, plants and substances that
could prolong life. Some of the
substances discovered in Chinese
medicine have been found to have
actual positive effects while others
were found useless or even
harmful, like mercury.
• The Indians, like the Chinese,
had a kind of alchemy
(rasayana) that looked at
different substances and
practices for Vedic medicine.
This is tied closely to Hindu and
Buddhist beliefs. They also
perfected the use of iron and
steel and were well-known
manufacturers of dyes, glass,
cement, solutions for textiles,
and soap.
 ALCHEMY – a medieval
chemical science and
speculative philosophy aiming
to achieve the transmutation
of the base metals into gold,
the discovery of a universal
cure for disease and the
discovery of a means of
indefinitely prolonging life.
• The Arabs and Muslims enriched not
only the practice but also the
literature of chemistry. In particular,
the scholar Jabir Ibn-Hayyan, also
known as Geber, translated the
practices and Aristotelian thinking of
the Greeks and wrote extensively on
how metals can be purified. He came
up with the preparation of acids such
as nitric, hydrochloric and sulfuric
acids, as well as aqua regia
(nitro-hydrochloric acid).
• Nitric acid – fertilizers, explosives,
nitroglycerin
• Hydrochloric acid – production
of batteries, photoflash bulbs,
fireworks, glue, purify common
salt
• Sulfuric acid – fertilizers,
chemicals, detergents, dyes,
explosives
• Aqua regia – dissolve gold and
platinum, clean glasswares
These advances in materials,
metallurgy and medicine
would often be collectively
referred to in history as
alchemy, from the
Arabic/Greek alkīmiyā
or “the art of transmuting.”
 Among their aims was to try
and transform “impure” or
“base” metals like lead or iron
into the “purer” metals of
silver or gold, discover a
magical “Philosopher’s Stone,”
and produce the so-called
“Elixir of Life.”
Mythical potion that grants
the drinker eternal life or
eternal youth.
 Scientific Contributions
Refined how to crystallize, condense, distill,
evaporate and dissolve metals and materials

Took lots of notes and information about what

they did

Developed step-by-step procedures and

specialized set-ups or equipment

Discovered and investigated the properties of

many now-useful substances such as phosphorus, sulfur and
potassium
 Unscientific Contributions
Used incantations, magic spells and symbols

Used esoteric symbols connected to astrology

and religion
Concerned with riches, purity, immortality, and
spirits
Promoted the Aristotelian concept of the
elements
 While alchemists had the wrong
understanding of matter, much of
what they did set the stage for
much of modern chemistry. For
this reason, alchemy is considered
a protoscience, a precursor that
allowed the field of chemistry to
be what it is today.
 PROTOSCIENCE – an
unscientific field of study
which later developed into
real science (astrology
toward astronomy and
alchemy toward chemistry).
 ASSIGNMENT
As a group, draw and
present the model or
concept of an atom, in
a 1/8 illustration
board, of the
following:
 ASSIGNMENT
1. John Dalton
2. John Joseph Thomson
3. Niels Bohr
4. Werner Heisenberg &
Ernest Schrodinger
(Quantum Model)