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This article was downloaded by: [University of New Hampshire] On: 07 October 2014, At: 22:48 Publisher: Taylor & Francis Informa Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registered office: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK Annals of Science Publication details, including instructions for authors and subscription information: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/tasc20 Collected Papers on the Philosophy of Chemistry Arie Leegwater a a Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Calvin College, Grand Rapids, MI 49546, USA. Published online: 03 Oct 2011. To cite this article: Arie Leegwater (2013) Collected Papers on the Philosophy of Chemistry, Annals of Science, 70:4, 567-568, DOI: 10.1080/00033790.2011.564299 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00033790.2011.564299 PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE Taylor & Francis makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of all the information (the “Content”) contained in the publications on our platform. However, Taylor & Francis, our agents, and our licensors make no representations or warranties whatsoever as to the accuracy, completeness, or suitability for any purpose of the Content. Any opinions and views expressed in this publication are the opinions and views of the authors, and are not the views of or endorsed by Taylor & Francis. The accuracy of the Content should not be relied upon and should be independently verified with primary sources of information. Taylor and Francis shall not be liable for any losses, actions, claims, proceedings, demands, costs, expenses, damages, and other liabilities whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with, in relation to or arising out of the use of the Content. This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub-licensing, systematic supply, or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/page/terms- and-conditions

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Page 1: Collected Papers on the Philosophy of Chemistry

This article was downloaded by: [University of New Hampshire]On: 07 October 2014, At: 22:48Publisher: Taylor & FrancisInforma Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registeredoffice: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK

Annals of SciencePublication details, including instructions for authors andsubscription information:http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/tasc20

Collected Papers on the Philosophy ofChemistryArie Leegwatera

a Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Calvin College,Grand Rapids, MI 49546, USA.Published online: 03 Oct 2011.

To cite this article: Arie Leegwater (2013) Collected Papers on the Philosophy of Chemistry, Annalsof Science, 70:4, 567-568, DOI: 10.1080/00033790.2011.564299

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00033790.2011.564299

PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE

Taylor & Francis makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of all the information (the“Content”) contained in the publications on our platform. However, Taylor & Francis,our agents, and our licensors make no representations or warranties whatsoever as tothe accuracy, completeness, or suitability for any purpose of the Content. Any opinionsand views expressed in this publication are the opinions and views of the authors,and are not the views of or endorsed by Taylor & Francis. The accuracy of the Contentshould not be relied upon and should be independently verified with primary sourcesof information. Taylor and Francis shall not be liable for any losses, actions, claims,proceedings, demands, costs, expenses, damages, and other liabilities whatsoever orhowsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with, in relation to or arisingout of the use of the Content.

This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Anysubstantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub-licensing,systematic supply, or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. Terms &Conditions of access and use can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/page/terms-and-conditions

Page 2: Collected Papers on the Philosophy of Chemistry

ERIC R. SCERRI, Collected Papers on the Philosophy of Chemistry. London: Imperial

College Press, 2008. x�235 pp. $95/£56. ISBN-13: 978-1-84816-137-5.

ERIC R. SCERRI, Selected Papers on the Periodic Table. London: Imperial College

Press, 2009. ix�143 pp. US $88/£66. ISBN-13: 978-1-84816-425-3.

Once when advising an entering college student, some years ago, as to his proper

placement in my college’s array of chemistry courses I asked what previous exposure

to chemistry he had had. Upon seeing the inside cover of an introductory chemistry

textbook which displayed a periodic table he blurted: ‘I have covered that’. If only

chemical reality were that simple and uncomplicated.Both of the books under review comprise collections of papers by Eric R. Scerri, a

leading philosopher of chemistry, in fact, known widely as one of the founders of the

sub-discipline. Scerri is also author of a recent widely acclaimed book on the periodic

table, The Periodic Table, Its Story and Its Significance (New York, 2007). He serves

as editor-in-chief of Foundations in Chemistry, the premier journal in the field.

Presently he is a lecturer in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at

UCLA.Scerri’s broad diversity of articles introduces us to a plethora of questions which

are examined in a historical and philosophical manner. Is the periodic table an

arrangement based on elements reflecting their macroscopic properties? Or is the

periodic table a microscopic account of neutral isolated atoms, the focus of atomic

physicists? Or is it perhaps a display of bonded atoms, the chemists’ major concern?

Should we opt for a left-step periodic table which places helium with the alkaline earth

metals rather than the traditional linkage to the noble gases? Does the existence of

atomic number triads in the periodic table lend support to a deeper, more

fundamental, quantum mechanical reduction of chemistry?

The Collected Papers on the Philosophy of Chemistry (CP) volume provides an in-

depth examination of Scerri’s more philosophical and historical work in philosophy

of chemistry from 1994 until 2007. After an introduction to the papers, the book is

divided, as Gaul, into three parts:

1. Philosophy of Chemistry and the Question of Reduction:

k The Case for Philosophy of Chemistry

k Prediction of the Nature of Hafnium from Chemistry, Bohr’s Theory and

Quantum Theoryk Has Chemistry Been at Least Approximately Reduced to Quantum

Mechanics?

k Reduction and Emergence in Chemistry

2. The Periodic Table, Electronic Configurations and the Nature of the Elements:

k Has the Periodic Table Been Successfully Axiomatized?

k The Periodic Table: The Ultimate Paper Tool in Chemistry

k Naive Realism, Reduction and the ‘Intermediate Position’

k How Ab Inito is Ab Initio Quantum Chemistry? Foundations of Chemistryk Some Aspects of the Metaphysics of Chemistry and the Nature of the

Elements

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Page 3: Collected Papers on the Philosophy of Chemistry

Two overriding issues frame the discussion: (1) is chemistry reducible to physics?

And, (2) what is the meaning or ontological significance of the adjective ‘periodic’ in

our usual graphical representation of the chemical elements? The chemistry

elaborated is conceptual chemistry*attuned to theoretical chemistry and mathema-

tical chemistry. Scerri admits as much: from his youth onwards he has been ‘in love’

with chemical ideas rather than chemical experimental manipulations. Readers

interested in synthetic chemical strategies or in determining reaction mechanisms and

dynamics need read no further. As the introductions to both books make abundantly

clear there is an autobiographical tenor present: one can follow Scerri’s fluid and

shifting (back and forth) views on the reality or non-reality of atomic orbitals or his

musings on different pedagogical strategies in chemical education as one moves in

chronological order through a series of papers. The philosophical trend in Scerri’s

thought is from a normative view to a more pragmatic naturalist view (CP, p. 216).

This development, though necessarily incomplete, leads Scerri to suggest this

paradox: that chemistry is an autonomous science which at the same time rests on

fundamental physics. The autobiographical character of both books should not

irritate the reader. Rather it enlivens the discussion. One can see Scerri exploring

different points of view concerning the arrangement of elements in the periodic table

while in conversation with philosophers, chemical educators and practicing physical

scientists.

The second volume containing 10 Selected Papers on the Periodic Table (SP) is an

assemblage of articles written for vastly different audiences from 1991 to 2009. To

highlight only the extremes: one paper was published in the International Journal of

Quantum Chemistry while two others are from American Scientist. Two other papers

were published in philosophy of science journals. Topically the collection ranges from

Dimitri Mendeleev’s legacy, the periodic table and its optimal form, an analysis of the

dual sense of the term ‘element’, the derivation of the Madelung Rule to Scerri’s view

of ab initio quantum chemistry. Truly, it represents a rather impressive range of

topics.For those who wish to gain entry into the philosophy of chemistry and

understand some of its nuances and recent developments, these two volumes provide

an effective and convenient introduction. For those involved in teaching chemistry

these books provide an argument not for less use of philosophy in understanding

chemical educational issues, but for a more careful and informed use. Although both

books are unfortunately extremely expensive, readers do get their money’s worth.

ARIE LEEGWATER, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry,

Calvin College, Grand Rapids, MI 49546, USA. Email: [email protected]

# 2013 Arie Leegwater

3. Realism and Anti-Realism, and Educational Issues in Philosophy of Chemistry:

k Constructivism, Relativism and Chemistry

k The Recently Claimed Observation of Atomic Orbitals and Some Related

Philosophical Issuesk Normative and Descriptive Philosophy of Science and the Role of

Chemist

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