The Chemists' Style of Thinking

Abstract

This paper discusses the relevance of the notion of "styles of scientific thinking" introduced by Alistair Crombie and revisited by Ian Hacking, for understanding how chemistry shaped its identity. Although neither Crombie nor Hacking applied this notion to individual disciplines, it seems appropriate to use it in the case of chemistry because it helps to address a puzzling issue: how did chemists manage to shape an identity of their own, despite shifting territories and theoretical transformations? Following a presentation of the notion of style, I will argue that the stable identity of chemistry is rooted in laboratory practices, which determined the specific questions that chemists put to nature as well as the answers to their questions. The "chemical style of thinking" is characterized by (i) a specific way of knowing through making, (ii) the concern with individual materials rather than matter in general and (iii) a specific commitment to nature.

The metamorphosis of analytical chemistry

“…Bernadette Bensaude-Vincent, philosopher of chemistry and the author of Chemistry-the impure science [24], a book concerned with the philosophical and historic basics of chemistry, expresses this difference as follows [25]: "In optics, for example, materials are characterised by their index of refraction, and materials with the same index of refraction will have identical properties. Chemistry, on the other hand, focuses on what compounds are present in a sample, and explores how changing the structure of molecules will change their reactivity and their physical properties.…”

Filosofía de la química II. Sobre el estilo de pensamiento de las prácticas químicas

“…Hay una amplia discusión sobre las maneras de pensar, las maneras de conocer o los estilos de pensamiento científicos (Fleck, 1986;Crombie, 1995Crombie, , 2000Pickstone, 2000;Hacking, 2002;Bensaude-Vincent, 2009;Kwa, 2011). En todos ellos se clasifican diferentes formas de construir y practicar las disciplinas científicas, incluyendo a las matemáticas y las tecnologías.…”

Метаморфозы Аналитической Химии

“…Бернадетт Бенсод-Венсан (Bernadette Bensaude-Vincent), философ химии и соавтор книги Chemistry -the impure science [24], посвященной философским и историческим основам химии, выражает это различие следующим образом [25]: «в оптике, например, материалы характеризуются своим показателем преломления, и материалы с одинаковым показателем преломления будут иметь одинаковые свой ства. Химия, с другой стороны, фокусируется на том, какие соединения присутствуют в образце, и исследует, как изменение структуры молекул изменит их реакционную способность и физические свой ства».…”