History of Chemistry

Soňa Melušová

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Time Line of AchievementTime Line of Achievement

time line of achievement =

Early chemical arts Early chemical arts

8,000 years ago, people in the Middle East were smelting copper by heating copper ores with charcoal to high temperatures

7,000 years ago, ancient Mesopotamians used tanning to make leather from animal hides

4,500 years ago, Egyptians learned to make glass from sand, limestone, and soda

biochemical arts are even older, as fermentation was being used to make beer and wine as long as 10,000 years ago

the use of enzymes to make cheese from milk dates back at least 3,000 years

smelting copper = tavenie medi limestone = vápenec

charcoal = drevené uhlie tanning = cínenie

Ancient Greek Ideas on matterAncient Greek Ideas on matter

Greek postage stamp

honoring Democritus

Demokritos (c. 460–c. 370 B.C.)

He proposed that matter was made of discrete indivisible particles, after his teacher pointed out that a beach looks smooth from afar but is really made of discrete grains of sand. He called his particles atomos, meaning "cannot be cut."

Aristotle (c. 384–c. 322 B.C.)

His idea was that all matter was made of earth, air, water, and fire in varying proportions. According to this notion, one should be able to make gold from other materials by adjusting the ratios of the four elements therein. His ideas influenced alchemy and protochemistry for 2,000 years.

discret = nespojitý adjusting = prispôsobenie

smooth = hladko ration = dávka

grain = zrnko varying = premenlivý

Greek knowledge passes to Arab civilizationGreek knowledge passes to Arab civilization

Jabir ibn Hayyan (c. 721–c. 815 )

As the first well-known Islamic alchemist he introduce the idea that metals were made of varying proportions of sulfur and mercury. This notion would influence both Islamic and Western alchemy for centuries.

Flowering of alchemy in the Islamic worldFlowering of alchemy in the Islamic world ...later Islamic alchemists pushed alchemy further down the road to being a real science...

ar-Razi (c. 865–c. 923/932)

accepted atomism

Abu Ali ibn Sina (980–1037)

known as Avicena, vehemently rejected the idea of transmutation

he would greatly influence Western alchemists

sulfur = síra mercury = ortuť

influence =vplyv reject = odmietnuť

Early Western alchemyEarly Western alchemy

Roger Bacon (c. 1220–1292)

He believed that alchemy should be used to create medicines and other materials to benefit humanity. Despite Bacon’s arguments, and the skepticism of the influential Avicenna, the quest for gold would dominate alchemical activity for centuries.

Alchemical emblem. A 1618 engraving by Theodor de Bry, 1528–1598. This image has been interpreted as a view of Roger Bacon balancing the four elements.

benefit = podporiť quest = hľadanie

Renaissance iatrochemistryRenaissance iatrochemistry

Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim (1493–1541) - Paracelsus

Was a proponent of iatrochemistry, or the use of alchemy to create medicines. He promoted the use of mineral substances to treat disease rather than herbal remedies, and saw medicines as working through a sort of magic.

proponent is a person or organization that proposes carrying out an activity that may have an effect on the environment

treat = liečiť remedies = lieky

The rise and fall of phlogistonThe rise and fall of phlogiston

Georg Ernst Stahl (1660–1734) formulated the first theory explaining combustion. Stahl held that metals and combustible materials contained a substance called phlogiston, which was released when the metal calcified or the fuel burned. The theory stood several decades before being overturned by Lavoisier.

combustion = spaľovanie released = uvoľnený

Georg Ernst Stahl

Thank you for your attentionThank you for your attention