Discipline formation

In what follows, I do not present a comprehensive survey of the history of chemistry, nor do I construct a systematic model of discipline formation. This is a historical narrative and analysis of aspects of the idea of chemistry, the idea of "theoretical" chemistry, and the institutional and intellectual processes that constructed disciplines in chemistry in their various historical forms. While considerable attention is paid to the ways in which chemists demarcated their domain against other domains, as well as to their statements of a chemical epistemology and their development of systems of chemical language and imagery, the overall study is guided by two premises. 

W.R. Woodward and R.S. Cohen (eds.) World Views and Scientific Discipline Formation. 

This difference between chemistry popularization then and now is not just revealing with respect to the development of the popular chemistry book it also provides major insights into the social position of chemistry. Its popularization involves a set of activities that directly pertain to the interplay of chemistry and society. This is why a consideration of the popular literature about chemistry offers a surprising outlook on discipline formation, professionalization, and changing views of the function of chemistry education cf. Meinel 1985, pp. 35-6). It is also from this angle that this chapter aims to provide a preliminary exploration of the relevant nineteenth-century popular chemistry literature. 

In the wake of the Humboldtian model, universities became the institutional site of this new disciplinary order, combining research and teaching. Disciplinary education became organized in departments and faculties as the main stmctures of universities. Weingart emphasizes self-referential communication as the essence of discipline formation (Weingart 2010 8). In a Bourdieusian framework, this amounts to the emergence of an autonomous academic field (Bourdieu 1976). 

Keywords Inorganic chemistry History of chemistry Discipline formation American inorganic chemists Chemistry in US academia Chemistry at Caltech Mechanism in chemistry Organometallic chemistry Donald Yost... 

Study of the formation of scientific disciplines is a topic much too broad for thorough consideration here. There is a large body of literature from a wide range of viewpoints, of which I cite here only a few examples collections of essays that variously take historical/philosophical [1, 2], sociological [3], or cultural [4] approaches. As a basis for comparison we might take a brief look at physical chemistry at the end of the nineteenth century, a case that has received considerable attention both as a particular historical episode and as an exemplar of discipline formation [5-10]. 

Woodward WR, Cohen RS (eds) (1991) World views and scientific discipline formation. Kluwer, Dordrecht... 

A general prerequisite for the existence of a stable interface between two phases is that the free energy of formation of the interface be positive were it negative or zero, fluctuations would lead to complete dispersion of one phase in another. As implied, thermodynamics constitutes an important discipline within the general subject. It is one in which surface area joins the usual extensive quantities of mass and volume and in which surface tension and surface composition join the usual intensive quantities of pressure, temperature, and bulk composition. The thermodynamic functions of free energy, enthalpy and entropy can be defined for an interface as well as for a bulk portion of matter. Chapters II and ni are based on a rich history of thermodynamic studies of the liquid interface. The phase behavior of liquid films enters in Chapter IV, and the electrical potential and charge are added as thermodynamic variables in Chapter V. 

Equally important, the contractor s cost-estimation team will have established a sharply honed, systematic approach including all the correct checklists, forms, and report formats designed to preclude oversights. The team will have developed the discipline, as a result of competitive bidding, to produce the kind of final report that fits in correctly with any type of economic evaluation. 

This abbreviated list of papers highlights one of the problems for astrochemists the results important to the subject are scattered around the literature of many disciplines. The way forward is to consult some of the review papers and follow the literature trails, so I have collected some of the papers with a broader perspective of the subject but this is certainly not complete. The references are given in the format of author, date title, journal title, volume and page number. 

This volume reviews experimental and theoretical studies that have been performed primarily during the last decade on the effects of hydrogen in both crystalline and amorphous semiconductors. The authors of the individual chapters were encouraged to adopt a tutorial format in order to make the volume as useful as possible, both to graduate students and to scientists from other disciplines, as well as to the active participants in this exciting arena of semiconductor research. We anticipate that this volume will prove to be an important and timely contribution to the semiconductor literature. 

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