From Alchemy to Chemistry: Five Hundred Years of Rare and Interesting Books

Abstract

This website grew out of an exhibit held at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Rare Book Room in April 2000. The Eastern Illinois Section of the American Chemical Society provided support for the construction of this website. The exhibit, "From Alchemy to Chemistry: 500 Years of Rare and Interesting Books," was co-curated by Tina Chrzastowski (Chemistry Librarian), Vera Mainz (Director, VOICE NMR Lab, School of Chemical Sciences), and Gregory Girolami (Professor of Chemistry). In the exhibit, the curators tried to convey some of the major shifts in the study of chemistry - not just the movement from alchemy to modern science - but also the way chemists changed the way they talked about their field. One of the themes of the exhibit is how chemists through the ages have used symbols to depict compounds and chemicals - sometimes as secret codes, as with alchemists, sometimes in standardized nomenclature, as with chemists. The exhibit shows how the "standard" nomenclature of chemistry changed many times over the years.