INTRODUCTION, CHEMISTRY AND ITS DEVELOPMENT

Chemistry is the science not so much of the one hundred elements but of the infinite variety of molecules that may be built from them. It is the science of molecules and their transformations. The branch of science that studies the preparation, properties, structure and reactions of material substances is called chemistry.

Chemistry development

• v  Chemistry was not studied for its own sake, rather it came up as a result of search to many interesting things:

• v  Chemistry developed mainly in the form of Alchemy and Iatrochemistry during 1300-1600 CE. Modern chemistry took shape in the 18th century, after a few centuries of alchemical traditions which were introduced in Europe by the Arabs. These included much knowledge of chemical processes and techniques.

• v  In ancient India, chemistry was called Rasayan Shastra. It included metallurgy, medicine, manufacture of cosmetics, glass, dyes, etc. Gypsum cement has been used in the construction work. It contains lime, sand and traces of CaCO3. They melted and forged a variety of objects from metals, such as lead, silver, gold and copper. They improved the hardness of copper for making artifacts by using tin and arsenic.

• v  Copper metallurgy in India dates back to the beginning of chalcolithic cultures in the subcontinent. There are much archeological evidences to support the view that technologies for extraction of copper and iron were developed indigenously.

• v  Copper utensils, iron, gold, silver ornaments and terracotta discs and painted grey pottery have been found in many archaeological sites in north India. They also used mustard oil and some alkalies as ingredients for making soap. Indians began making soaps in the 18th century.

• v  The concept that matter is ultimately made of indivisible building blocks, appeared in India a few centuries BC as a part of philosophical speculations. According to him, all substances are aggregated form of smaller units called atoms which are eternal, indestructible, spherical, supersensible and in motion in the original state.

• v  After the decline of alchemy, Iatrochemistry reached a steady state, but it too declined due to the introduction and practice of western medicinal system in the 20th century.

• v  During this period of stagnation, pharmaceutical industry based on Ayurveda continued to exist, but it too declined gradually. It took about 100-150 years for Indians to learn and adopt new techniques. During this time, foreign products poured in. As a result, indigenous traditional techniques gradually declined.

From the above studies, you have learnt that chemistry deals with the structure, composition, properties and interection of matter and is used for human beings in daily life, Chemistry is called the science of atoms and molecules. We will also describe how physical properties of matter can be quantitatively described using numerical values with suitable units.