Chemistry, ancient developments

The above are the opening words of Exodus, the second book of the Petateuch. Already in ancient times, names were important in association with events. As organic chemistry developed during the 20th century, researchers started associating synthetically useful reactions Vi/ith the names of discoverers or developers of these reactions. In many cases such names serve merely as a mnemonic, to remember a reaction more easily there are few chemistry undergraduates who do not know what the Friedel-Crafts reaction is. 

Berke, H. (2002), Chemistry in ancient times The development of blue and purple pigments, Angewandte Chemie. Int. Ed. 41(14), 2483-2487. 

Analytical chemistry is one of the oldest scientific disciplines. Its history can be traced back to the ancient Egyptians, about four to five thousand years ago (Szabadvary [1966], Malissa [1987], Yordanov [1987]). But notwithstanding its long history, analytical chemistry is always an essential factor in the development of modern scientific and industrialised society. 

Toxicological studies on direct food additives have revealed toxic and harmful actions. Food dyes and preservatives have been used since ancient Roman times to improve the color of wine or to disinfect wine containers. The development of chemistry led to many unwise experiments, such as the dying of food with copper, chrome, lead, mercury, arsenic, and cadmium salts. In the U.S. in 1906, over 300 food dyes were officially tested, of which only seven passed and were allowed to be used in food. Only two of them - erythrosine and idigotine - are permitted now. The lists of preservatives are also constantly modified in different countries. Quite recently, formic acid, which is used to preserve semi-products, was banned in Poland due to its deleterious effects. 

The notion of atoms arrived in the East, ancient India, prior to its appearance in the West, the ancient Mediterranean (Greek) world. Both societies were polytheistic, and philosopher-chemists dominated the study of chemistry. Atomic concepts were based upon philosophical considerations and not experimental observations. No exchange on atomism between these two regions in this ancient time has been detected, indicating that these concepts were developed independently ). These developments occurred dming Period I of the Ancient Regime of Chemistry (—10,000 BCE - —100 BCE), which may be called the... 

Traditions of ancient writers attribute some discoveries in these lines to India or Persia, or other Asiatic countries, but as to whether any of these countries contributed in any important way to the development of Egyptian chemical knowledge, or whether at some time these countries learned their arts from Egypt, we cannot safely determine from such tradition. It is quite certain that both in China and in India the chemistry of the metals and alloys, methods of dyeing and the use of certain chemicals in medicine were practiced at ancient periods, but their chronology is diffi-... 

It is Arabian alchemy that preserved the traditions and literature of the Alexandrian-Greek alchemists, derived from the Syrians during the long period when the culture of Christian Europe was inhospitable to its development. From such Syrian and Arabian manuscripts as have been preserved and examined, it does not appear that during the centuries of their alchemical activity any very notable additions were made to the practical chemistry known to the ancients of the times of Pliny, Dioscorides or the writers of the Theban papyri. Nor was the development of the theories of matter and its changes in the direc-... 

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