A History of Chemistry

Ancient Greeks
 Democritus
 460 BCE to 370 BCE
 was a student of
Leucippus and co-
originator of the belief
that all matter is made up
of various imperishable,
indivisible elements
 He called atoma (sg.
Atomon) or "indivisible
units"
 Ancient Greeks
 Plato and Aristotle
 Aristotle (384 BCE to
332BCE)
 Theory of “Hyle”
 Believed there were 4
classic elements
 Earth, fire, water, air
Alchemy
 ~ 1600 ACE
 Mystical
pseudoscience
 Searched for
“philosopher’s stone”
 Some goals were
transmutation,
panacea and universal
solvent
 Modern Chemistry

Joseph Louis Proust

Lavoisier
Lavoisier’s Apparatus
 John Dalton
 Atomic Theory of
Matter
 What is it????
JJ Thomson