Abstract Since molecules are inaccessible to immediate observation, our conception of the molecule is brought about by transdiction which entails invention of various transcendental ideas. In organic chemistry we think that molecules consist of atoms, bonds, functional groups, etc. This is, however, not the unique description of the molecule as is shown by quantum mechanical calculations, for example

Abstract An Example of Teaching of Chemistry Before and After Mendeleev’s 1869 Periodic Table of Elements is presented. Prior to Mendeleev’s publication in 1869, only 63 elements were known. The ensuing discovery of the electron and the correspondence of the number of electrons to equivalent weight and atomic number is of singular importance to the impact of the Periodic Table of Elements and the way

Abstract The first attempt to represent the Periodic system graphically was the Telluric Helix (Vis Tellurique) presented in 1862 by Alexandre-Emile Béguyer de Chancourtois, in which the sequence of elements was wound round a cylinder. This has hardly been attempted since, because the intervals between periodic returns vary in length from 2 to 32 elements, but Charles Janet presented a model wound

Abstract The investigation of the relation between chemistry and quantum mechanics includes examining how the two theories each describe an isolated molecule. This paper focuses on one particular characteristic of chemistry’s and quantum mechanics’ descriptions of an isolated molecule; namely on the assumptions made by each description that an isolated molecule is stable and has structure. The paper

Abstract By moving away from the traditional reductionist reading of the quantum theory of atoms in molecules (QTAIM), in this paper we analyze the role played by QTAIM in the relationship between molecular chemistry and quantum mechanics from an emergentist perspective. In particular, we show that such a relationship involves two steps: an intra-domain emergence and an inter-domain emergence. Intra-domain

Abstract The so-called ‘redintegration experiment’ is traditionally at the center of the comments on the supposed Boyle/Spinoza controversy. A. Clericuzio influentially argued (criticizing R.A. & M.B. Hall’s interpretation) in his publications that, in De nitro, Boyle accounted for the ‘redintegration’ of saltpeter on the grounds of the chemical properties of corpuscles and “did not make any attempt

Abstract I present a formal language that imposes a structure on processes in macro-chemistry. Each symbol in the language invites a type of analysis that is carried out either by looking into the semantics if the language or by looking at the context. Every formal language has assumptions underlying it. The assumptions made in developing the formal language are meant to help with conceptual analysis

Abstract What chemists take as molecular structure is a theoretical construct based on the concepts of chemical bond, atoms in molecules, etc. and hence it should be distinguished from tangible structures around us. The practical adequacy of it has been demonstrated by the established method of retro-synthetic analysis, for instance. But it is not derived a priori from quantum mechanical treatments

Abstract The dissemination of models across disciplinary lines has become a phenomenon of interest to philosophers of science. To account for this phenomenon, philosophers have invented two units of analysis. The first identifies to the thing that transfers, model templates. The second identifies the thing to which transferable templates apply, landing zones. There exists a dynamic between the thing

Abstract Whom should we credit for the discovery of isotopes? The first suggestion of an idea, the first experimental proof, or the development of a new method that clearly reveals the isotopes? Strömholm and Svedberg, Fajans and Soddy interpreted patterns of radioactive decay, which became confirmed theory on the solid basis of the very accurate atomic weight determinations by Richards and his coworkers

Abstract This article discusses the mathematizing of the chemical periodic system as a grid, which leads to a quadratic function or “binódica function” formed by pairs of periods or binodos (dyads). We describe the periodic law as an increasing function of the principal quantum number (n). It works subject to the dialectical laws that generate; first: gradual quantitative changes: (2n2), with “duplication”

Abstract Much has been said about the accuracy of the famous predictions of the Russian chemist Dmitrii Ivanovich Mendeleev, but far less has been written on how he made his predictions. Here we offer an explanation on how Mendeleev used his periodic system to predict both physical and chemical properties of little-known and entirely unknown chemical elements. We argue that there seems to be compelling

Abstract The periodic table can be simply demarcated into four classes of metal and four classes of nonmetal. Such a treatment has been obstructed by the traditional view of metalloids as in-between elements; understandable but needless boundary squabbles; and a group-by-group view of the reactive nonmetals. Setting aside these limiting notions reveals some interesting patterns and facilitates teaching

Abstract Electronegativity (χ) is an important physico-chemical concept to study the chemical structure and reactivity. Although, the conundrum related to measurement of electronegativity still persists. In view of this fact, a simple yet rigorous scale of electronegativity (χ), invoking an inverse relationship with atomic nucleophilicity index (N), has been proposed for 103 elements of the periodic

Abstract The paper deals with the philosophy of science and technology from a new perspective. The analysis connects closely to the novel approach to scientific research called practical realism of the late Estonian philosopher of science and chemistry Rein Vihalemm. From his perspective, science is not only theoretical but even more clearly a practical activity. This kind of practice-based approach

In the original publication of the article under the Acknowledgements section, a contributor name was missed out. The corrected statement should read as follows.

Abstract A 4-dimensional periodic table of chemical elements (4D PT) is presented. The 120 elements in the n = 8 system are located on vertices of a 4D-cubic lattice and specified by Cartesian coordinates (n, l, m, s) based on the four quantum numbers. Each quantum number is represented by a vector along a different spatial direction (axes) in 4D Euclidean space. The 4D PT has a fixed topology governed

Abstract In his account of scientific revolutions, Thomas Kuhn suggests that after a revolutionary change of theory, it is as if scientists are working in a different world. In this paper, we aim to show that the notion of world change is insightful. We contrast the reporting of the discovery of neon in 1898 with the discovery of hafnium in 1923. The one discovery was made when elements were identified