Seeking to enlarge an understanding of the nature of chemical science explain how the concepts being taught in the classroom came to be, Siegfried presents a simple, readable account of how in the 18th cent. chemical composition slowly abandoned the centuries- long tradition of metaphysical elements of earth, air, fire, water. Through the work of such scientist as Lavoisier, Dalton, Davy, chemical theory moved from metaphysical elements to operationally functional atoms. The book is based on chemical writings of 17th- 18th-cent. chemists; references to recently published secondary works are intended for the benefit of readers who wish to enlarge their perspectives on the development of early chemical thinking.
