Springer Philosophy of Chemistry: Growth of a New Discipline: 306 (Boston Studies in the Philosophy and History of Science, 306)

This volume follows the successful book, which has helped to introduce and spread the Philosophy of Chemistry to a wider audience of philosophers, historians, science educators as well as chemists, physicists and biologists. The introduction summarizes the way in which the field has developed in the ten years since the previous volume was conceived and introduces several new authors who did not contribute to the first edition. The editors are well placed to assemble this book, as they are the editor in chief and deputy editors of the leading academic journal in the field, Foundations of Chemistry. The philosophy of chemistry remains a somewhat neglected field, unlike the philosophy of physics and the philosophy of biology. Why there has been little philosophical attention to the central discipline of chemistry among the three natural sciences is a theme that is explored by several of the contributors. This volume will do a great deal to redress this imbalance. Among the themes covered is the question of reduction of chemistry to physics, the reduction of biology to chemistry, whether true chemical laws exist and causality in chemistry. In addition more general questions of the nature of organic chemistry, biochemistry and chemical synthesis are examined by specialist in these areas. From the Back Cover This volume follows the earlier successful book in the same series, which helped to introduce and spread the Philosophy of Chemistry to a wider audience of philosophers, historians, and science educators, as well as chemists, physicists and biologists. The introduction summarizes the way in which the field has developed in the ten years since the previous volume was conceived and introduces several new authors who did not contribute to the earlier book. The editors are well placed to assemble this book, as they are the editor in chief and deputy editors of the leading academic journal in the field, Foundations of Chemistry. The philosophy of chemistry remains a somewhat neglected field, unlike the philosophy of physics and the philosophy of biology. Why there has been little philosophical attention to the central discipline of chemistry among the three natural sciences is a theme that is explored by several of the contributors. This volume will do a great deal to redress this imbalance. Among the themes covered is the question of reduction of chemistry to physics, the reduction of biology to chemistry, whether true chemical laws exist and causality in chemistry. In addition more general questions of the nature of organic chemistry, biochemistry and chemical synthesis are examined by specialist in these areas. About the Author Eric Scerri was educated at the Universities of London, Cambridge and Southampton. He then obtained a PhD in the History & Philosophy of Chemistry from King’s College, London. After postdoctoral fellowships at the London School of Economics and Caltech Scerri joined the UCLA faculty in 2000, where he teaches chemistry, history & philosophy of science. He is the author of three award-winning books with Oxford University Press, namely The Periodic Table, Its Story and Its Significance, A Very Short Introduction to the Periodic Table and most recently A Tale of Seven Elements. In addition Scerri has published two books of his own collected research papers on the history & philosophy of chemistry and as well as co-editing three further books on the philosophy of chemistry. His books have been translated into fifteen languages, and he is currently working on two new books. He is also is the founder and editor-in- chief of the journal Foundations of Chemistry. Scerri’s research includes topics such as the extent to which chemistry is reduced to quantum mechanics and the historical and philosophical significance of the periodic system. He has appeared on radio and television and at lectures in countries all round the world and has published numerous articles in pr