2. At the end of the lesson, the learners will be able to:
1.Discuss key developments in the concept of the atom
and element throughout pre-modern history
2. Discuss key developments in the practical
application of chemistry throughout pre-modern
history.
3. Articulate the contributions of alchemy as a
protoscience to chemistry.
Specific Learning Outcomes
3. a. I can describe the ideas of the
Ancient Greeks on the atom.
b. I can describe the ideas of the
Ancient Greeks on the elements.
c. I can describe the contributions
of the alchemists to the science of
chemistry.
5. Atomism, non-atomistic views of the
Greeks, the growth of alchemy across
different civilizations, Western
Alchemy
6. Greek philosophers
who began considering
the nature of what
things were made of.
preoccupied with how the universe
seemed to be both changing and
constant.
7. Leucippus and Democritus
were two of the most
important theorists about the
natural and physical world.
They were called physicists in
Ancient Greece. They
considered the idea of
atomism, or the idea that
things are made up of much
smaller things that cannot be
changed nor divided.
8. Among the features of their theory were the following:
• Atoms make up most of the things in the universe; where there are
no atoms, there is a void.
• Atoms are incredibly small and cannot be divided, hence atomos
(uncuttable).
• Atoms themselves are solid, homogeneous and cannot change.
• Atoms moving about and colliding in the void cause the changes we
see in our universe.
• The shapes, sizes and weights of individual atoms influence the
characteristics of the thing they make up; e.g. sharp atoms cause our
tongues to tear and make bitter or sour tastes, and atoms that
compose clay are joined by flexible joints which harden when the clay is
baked.
9. • Atomism, although more a
philosophical idea than a
scientific one was closest to our
current thinking about matter.
Despite having advocates,
atomism was set aside because
more prominent philosophers
opposed it. Religious groups later
declared it as heretical or
blasphemous because they
deemed atomistic thinking
denied the existence of God.
10. Atomism, although more a
philosophical idea than a scientific one
was closest to our current thinking
about matter. Despite having
advocates, atomism was set aside
because more prominent philosophers
opposed it. Religious groups later
declared it as heretical or blasphemous
because they deemed atomistic
thinking denied the existence of God.
11. Some of the ideas that served
as arguments against
atomism and what this
revealed about how the
Greeks thought about matter
and the world:
12. • The philosopher Anaxagoras
argued that there was an
infinite number of elementary
natural substances in the form
of infinitesimally small
particles that combined to
comprise the different things
in the universe.
13. • Another theory by a
philosopher named
Empedocles stated that
everything is made up of
four eternal and unchanging
kinds of matter, fire, air (all
gases), water (all liquids and
metals) and earth (all solids).
14. • The well-known philosopher Plato
further expanded Empedocles’
theory by saying each of the four
kinds of matter is composed of
geometrical solids (the “Platonic
solids”) further divisible into
triangles. When rearranged, these
triangles could cause the apparent
transformations between the four
basic kinds of matter.
15. Aristotle, on the other hand,
believed that the four elements
could be balanced in substances in
an infinite number of ways, and that
when combined gave proportions of
“essential qualities,” hot, dry, cold
and wet. Transformations between
the four elements (or changes in
their balance in a substance) caused
changes in the universe.
16. it was an obsession with
Aristotle’s ideas (and his
arguments against atomists)
that prevented atomism from
gaining ground.
17. Our concept of matter didn’t
advance much during this time,
the practical aspect of dealing
with substances, matter and
materials flourished in different
civilizations before and after the
Greeks:
18. • The Mesopotamians had
techniques to utilize metals
like gold and copper. They
even assigned certain
symbols to match metals with
the heavenly bodies such as
the Sun and Moon. They also
made use of other materials
such as dyes, glass, paints,
and perfumes.
19. • The Egyptians adapted
techniques from the
Mesopotamians and
perfected the use of
bronze, dye and glass that
the Greeks later copied.
20. • The Chinese also had their own
processes for metalwork and ceramic
materials, but they especially focused
on finding minerals, plants and
substances that could prolong life.
Some of the substances discovered in
Chinese medicine have been found to
have actual positive effects while
others were found useless or even
harmful, like mercury.
21. • The Indians, like the Chinese, had
a kind of alchemy (rasayana) that
looked at different substances and
practices for Vedic medicine. This is
tied closely to Hindu and Buddhist
beliefs. They also perfected the use
of iron and steel and were well-
known manufacturers of dyes, glass,
cement, solutions for textiles, and
soap.
22. The Arabs and Muslims enriched not
only the practice but also the
literature of chemistry. In particular,
the scholar Jabir Ibn-Hayyan, also
known as Geber, translated the
practices and Aristotelian thinking of
the Greeks and wrote extensively on
how metals can be purified. He
came up with the preparation of
acids such as nitric, hydrochloric and
sulfuric acids, as well as aqua regia
(nitro-hydrochloric acid).
23. Despite many of the progress being
practical, much of it was shrouded in
mysticism or cultural beliefs, and was often
a result of trial and error. These advances in
materials, metallurgy and medicine would
often be collectively referred to in history as
alchemy, from the Arabic/Greek alkīmiyā or
“the art of transmuting.”
24. The field of alchemy became popular in the Western world
because of Aristotle’s ideas on the elements and the
techniques developed by other civilizations. Alchemists tried
to play with the balance of the four elements (fire, water, air,
earth) and three principles (salt, sulfur and mercury) to
transform or transmute substances. Among their aims was
to try and transform “impure” or “base” metals like lead or
iron into the “purer” metals of silver or gold, discover a
magical “Philosopher’s Stone,” and produce the so-called
“Elixir of Life.” With a T-chart, distinguish how alchemy both
contributed to and hampered scientific thought.
