Course: History and Philosophy of Chemistry

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Course title History and Philosophy of Chemistry
Course code KFI/HFCHN
Organizational form of instruction Lecture + Seminary
Level of course Master
Year of study not specified
Semester Winter and summer
Number of ECTS credits 3
Language of instruction Czech
Status of course unspecified
Form of instruction Face-to-face
Work placements This is not an internship
Recommended optional programme components None
Lecturer(s)
  • Demjančuk Nikolaj, Doc. PhDr. CSc.
  • Dostálová Ludmila, Mgr. Ph.D.
Course content
1. Chemistry as a part of material and spiritual culture. Chemistry as a picture of contemporary culture (B. L. van der Waerden). 2. The problem of continuity of chemical knowledge and the birth of scientific chemistry. 3. Historiography of chemistry (17th century: G. Wallenius, H. Kunkel, G. Stahl; 18th century: T. Bergman, J. Ch. Wiegleb, J. F. Gmelin; 19th century: M. Berthelot). 4. Periodization of the history of chemistry by J. R. Partington (pre-alchemical, alchemical period, the period of unified chemistry, the period of quantitative laws, the current period). 5. Analysis of sources for the study of chemical knowledge of individual epochs. 6. Great figures and discoveries of alchemists (Zósimos of Panopol, Jabir, Albert the Great, Roger Bacon, Paracelsus, J. B. van Helmont, G. E. Stahl, J. Juncker, I. Newton). 7. Preparation of the scientific revolution in chemistry (Johann Joachim Becher, Robert Boyle, Georg Ernst Stahl). 8. Creating the basics of scientific chemistry (Antoine Lavoisier, Johann Christian Wiegleb). 9. Creating the basics of scientific chemistry (John Dalton, Amadeo Avogadro, Jöns Jacob Berzelius). 10. Creating the basics of scientific chemistry (Justus Liebig, Friedrich Wöhler, Dmitry I. Mendeleev). 11. Successes of applied inorganic chemistry in the 19th century. 12. Synthetic organic chemistry in the 20th century. 13. Relation of chemistry to other natural sciences. Methods of contemporary chemistry.

Learning activities and teaching methods
Interactive lecture, Textual studies
  • Graduate study programme term essay (40-50) - 26 hours per semester
  • Contact hours - 26 hours per semester
  • Preparation for an examination (30-60) - 26 hours per semester
prerequisite
Knowledge
to describe key events in world history
to list important philosophical trends and their representatives
to characterize the development of philosophical thinking in the context of historical development
to characterize the basic philosophical problems solved in various philosophical schools and their terminology
to list the world's leading chemists
Skills
to analyze and interpret professional text in Czech and English
to process knowledge from a professional text into a comprehensive presentation
Competences
N/A
N/A
N/A
learning outcomes
Knowledge
to describe the origin of scientific chemistry
to explain significant chemical discoveries in the context of contemporary philosophy
Skills
to interpret selected works of meaningful representatives of European chemistry
Competences
N/A
N/A
N/A
teaching methods
Knowledge
Interactive lecture
Textual studies
Skills
Interactive lecture
Seminar
Textual studies
Competences
Interactive lecture
Seminar
Textual studies
assessment methods
Knowledge
Seminar work
Continuous assessment
Combined exam
Skills
Continuous assessment
Seminar work
Competences
Combined exam
Continuous assessment
Seminar work
Recommended literature
  • Historie chemie. 1. vyd. Brno : Přírodovědecká fakulta Masarykovy univerzity, 1997. ISBN 80-210-1501-2.
  • Anstey, P. The Philosophy of Robert Boyle. London, 2000.
  • Bernard, J. The Story of Chemistry From Ancient Alchemy to Nuclear Fission. 4th ed. New York, 1976.
  • Budiš J. Historie chemie slovem a obrazem. MU Brno, 1995.
  • Demjančuk, Nikolaj. O povaze vědy : věda v kulturních kontextech. 1. vyd. V Plzni : Západočeská univerzita, 2010. ISBN 978-80-7043-921-0.
  • Karpenko, Vladimír. Alchymie : nauka mezi snem a skutečností. Vyd. 1. Praha : Academia, 2007. ISBN 978-80-200-1491-7.
  • Lavoisier, A. Elements of Chemistry. New York, 1965.
  • Paracelsus. Filosofie okultní. Praha : Trigon, 1990. ISBN 80-85320-05-3.
  • Patterson, E. C. John Dalton and the Atomic Tudory. New York, 1970.
  • Price, D. J. de Solla. Science Since Babylon. London, 1961.
  • Schwartz, A. Truman. Chemistry in context : applying chemistry to society. 2nd ed. [New York] : McGraw-Hill, 1997. ISBN 0-697-29158-8.
  • Solárová M. Vybrané kapitoly z historie chemie. Brno, PAIDO, 2000.


Study plans that include the course
Faculty Study plan (Version) Category of Branch/Specialization Recommended year of study Recommended semester