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http://chemistry.about.com/cs/history/a/aa020204a.htm
From Anne Marie Helmenstine, Ph.D.
Alchemists (~1000-1650)
Among other things, the alchemists sought a universal solvent,
attempted to change lead and other metals into gold, and tried to
discover an elixir which would prolong life. The alchemists learned
how to use metallic compounds and plant-derived materials to treat
diseases.
1100s
Oldest written description of lodestone used as a compass.
Boyle, Sir Robert (1637-1691)
Formulated the fundamental gas laws. First to propose the
combination of small particles to form molecules. Differentiated
between compounds and mixtures.
Torricelli, Evangelista (1643)
Invented the mercury barometer.
von Guericke, Otto (1645)
Constructed the first vacuum pump.
Bradley, James (1728)
Uses aberration of starlight to determine the speed of light to within
5%. accuracy.
Priestley, Joseph (1733-1804)
Discovered oxygen, carbon monoxide, and nitrous oxide. Proposed
electrical inverse-square law (1767).
Scheele, C.W. (1742-1786)
Discovered chlorine, tartaric acid, metal oxidation, and sensitivity of
silver compounds to light (photochemistry).
Le Blanc, Nicholas (1742-1806)
Invented process for making soda ash from sodium sulfate,
limestone and coal.
Lavoisier, A.L. (1743-1794)
Discovered nitrogen. Described the composition of many organic
compounds. Sometimes regarded as the Father of Chemistry.
Volta, A. (1745-1827)
Invented the electric battery.
Berthollet, C.L. (1748-1822)
Corrected Lavoisers theory of acids. Discovered bleaching ability
of chlorine. Analyzed combining weights of atoms (stoichiometry).
Moisson, H. (1852-1907)
Developed electric furnace for making carbides and purifying
metals. Isolated fluorine (1886). Nobel Prize in 1906.
Fischer, Emil (1852-1919)
Studied sugars, purines, ammonia, uric acid, enzymes, nitric acid.
Pioneer research in sterochemistry. Nobel Prize in 1902.
Thomson, Sir J.J. (1856-1940)
Research on cathode rays proved existence of electrons (1896).
Nobel Prize in 1906.
Plucker, J. (1859)
Built one of the first gas discharge tubes (cathode ray tubes).
Werner, A. (1866-1919)
Introduced concept of coordination theory of valence (complex
chemistry). Nobel Prize in 1913.
Goldstein, E. (1886)
Used cathode ray tube to study 'canal rays', which possessed
electrical and magnetic properties opposite those an electron.
Haber, F. (1868-1924)
Synthesized ammonia from nitrogen and hydrogen, the first
industrial fixation of atmospheric nitrogen (the process was further
developed by Bosch). Nobel Prize 1918.
Lord Kelvin (1874)
Stated the second law of thermodynamics.
Rutherford, Sir Ernest (1871-1937)
Discovered that uranium radiation is composed of positively
charged 'alpha' particles and negatively charged 'beta' particles
(1989/1899). First to prove radioactive decay of heavy elements and
to perform a transmutation reaction (1919). Discovered half-life of
radioactive elements. Established that the nucleus was small, dense,
and positively charged. Assumed that electrons were outside the
nucleus. Nobel Prize in 1908.
Chronology of Major Events
Maxwell, James Clerk (1873)
Proposed that electric and magnetic fields filled space.