Alexander W. Williamson on the atomic theory: A study of nineteenth-century British atomism

References

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• See Brock W.H. Knight D.M. The atomic debates Isis 1965 56 1 29
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• Recently, some attention has been given to Wiliamson's atomism in Harris J. Brock W.H. From Giessen to Gower Street: towards a biography of Alexander William Williamson (1824–1904) Annals of science 1974 31 95 130 (pp. 110–111); and in W. H. Brock, ‘Alexander William Williamson’, in C. C. Gillispie (ed.) Dictionary of scientific biography, vol. 14 (1976, New York), 394–396.
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• Williamson's capacity to put forward new ideas during his tenure at Giessen has been examined recently in Harris J. Brock W.H. From Giessen to Gower Street: towards a biography of Alexander William Williamson (1824–1904) Annals of science 1974 31 103 106
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• See Blunck Richard Justus von Liebig: Die Lebensgeschichte eines Chemikers Hamburg 1946 20 23
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• It has been suggested that Liebig's introduction of a vital principle in his 1840 Organic chemistry in its application to agriculture and physiology (1841, Cambridge), and his extensive discussion of the vital principle in his 1842 Animal chemistry or organic chemistry in its application to physiology and pathology (intro. by F. L. Holmes: 1964, New York) can be interpreted as metaphysical speculation. This is not the case, however. For Liebig the vital force could be scientifically understood in terms of its laws, just as any other force is explicable in terms of its laws; see T. O. Lipman, ‘Vitalism and reductionism in Liebig's physiological thought’, Isis, 58 (1967), 167–185. For an interesting discussion of the different types of vitalism see Benton E. Vitalism in nineteenth-century scientific thought: a typology and reassessment Studies in history and philosophy of science 1974 5 17 48
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• Liebig , J. 1843 . Familiar letters on chemistry 50 – 50 . London also see his ‘Letters VI and VII’, Familiar letters on chemistry (4th ed. 1859, London). At the time of this writing (1843) vitalism was still an important issue; see J. H. Brooke, ‘Wohler's urea and its vital force?—a verdict from the chemists’, Ambix, 15 (1968), 84–114; his ‘Organic synthesis and the unification of chemistry—a reappraisal’, British journal for the history of science, 5 (1971), 363–392; and E. Benton (footnote 15).
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• Liebig , J. 1843 . Familiar letters on chemistry 50 – 50 . London
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• Williamson produced five research articles while at Giessen, which Liebig considered sufficiently important to award Williamson the doctorate. Published in Liebig's Annalen der Chemie und Pharmacie, the five papers are: On the decomposition of oxides and salts by chlorine 1845 54 133 143 ‘Some experiments on ozone’, 54 (1845), 127–133; ‘On the blue compound of cyanogen and iron’, 57 (1846), 225–246; ‘Bemerkungen und Versuche über die Ozontheorie’, 61 (1847), 13–37; and ‘Notiz über die Constitution des Oenanthols’, 61 (1847), 38–45.
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• Among other contacts between the two families, John Stuart Mill's father, James Mill, was associated with Williamson's father in the founding in 1827 of the University of London (afterwards University College, London); see Harris J. Brock W.H. From Giessen to Gower Street: towards a biography of Alexander William Williamson (1824–1904) Annals of science 1974 31 97 100
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• Comte, in fact, had hoped that Williamson would become the leader of his positivist doctrine in England; in this effort, however, Williamson proved to be disappointing. See Simon W.M. Auguste Comte's English disciples Victorian studies 1964 8 161 172 (p. 162); and J. Harris and W. H. Brock (footnote 4), 107, 109.
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• See Partington J.R. A history of chemistry London 1961-1964 1 419 421 4 vols. at the time the accepted value of oxygen was 8. See also A. W. Williamson, ‘On the classification of the elements in relation to their atomicities’, Journal of the Chemical Society, 17 (1864), 211–222, in which he discusses the chemical grounds for doubling the atomic weights of certain elements
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• Concerning Williamson's paper, the Theory of etherification The London, Edinburgh, and Dublin philosophical magazine and journal of science 1850 37 3 350 356 it has been noted that ‘certainly no chemical paper of equal length [seven pages] ever exercised so profound an influence on contemporary thought’; see T. E. Thorpe, ‘Prof. A. W. Williamson, F.R.S.’, Nature, 70 (1904), 32–34 (p. 33).
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• After his Parisian period with Comte, Williamson's professional career was entirely devoted to his chemical studies. He never published any researches in mathematics or philosophy, with the one exception of a sociological-philosophical tract entitled Development of difference the basis of unity London 1849 Delivered as his inaugural lecture at the University of London, this address was intended to initiate Comte's positivist philosophy among the English; see footnote 20.
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• Williamson , A.W. 1851–1854 . Suggestions for the dynamics of chemistry derived from the theory of etherification . Notices of the proceedings at the meetings of the members of the Royal Institution , 1 : 90 – 94 . (p. 91); reprinted as indicated in (footnote 30), 18–24 (p. 19).
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• Williamson , A.W. 1850 . Theory of etherification . The London, Edinburgh, and Dublin philosophical magazine and journal of science , 37 ( 3 ) : 12 – 13 . compare F. L. Holmes, ‘From elective affinities to chemical equilibria: Berthollet's law of mass action’, Chymia, 8 (1962), 105–145 (p. 131). His explanation can be represented in modern symbols as follows:
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• Williamson , A.W. 1850 . Theory of etherification . The London, Edinburgh, and Dublin philosophical magazine and journal of science , 37 ( 3 ) : 14 – 14 .
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• Compare Holmes F.L. Theory of etherification The London, Edinburgh, and Dublin philosophical magazine and journal of science 1850 37 3 132 132 and E. von Meyer (footnote 9), 554. See also A. W. Williamson, ‘Ueber die Theorie der Aetherbildung’, Annalen der Chemie und Pharmacie, 77 (1851), 37–49 (p. 47).
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• Williamson , A.W. 1850 . Theory of etherification . The London, Edinburgh, and Dublin philosophical magazine and journal of science , 37 ( 3 ) : 17 – 17 . see also his (footnote 35), 91.
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• Williamson , A.W. 1850 . Theory of etherification . The London, Edinburgh, and Dublin philosophical magazine and journal of science , 37 ( 3 ) : 16 – 16 .
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• See Levere T.H. Affinity and matter. Elements of chemical philosophy, 1800–1865 Oxford 1971 191 193 On chemical change and the nature of matter during the 19th century, see C. A. Russell, The history of valency (1971, New York); on Williamson's role with regard to Russell's discussion see pp. 44–62.
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• See Schofield R.E. Mechanism and materialism: British natural philosophy in an age of reason Princeton 1970 and A. Thackray, Atoms and powers: an essay on Newtonian matter-theory and the development of chemistry (1970, Cambridge, Mass.).
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• See von Meyer E. A history of chemistry London 1906 554 554 also A. W. Williamson (footnote 30), 16, and (footnote 39), 47.
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• In 1867 C. M. Guldberg and P. Waage, beginning with Berthollet's axioms, demonstrated their agreement with the notion of dynamical equilibrium in chemical observation; see their Etudes sur les affinités chimiques (1867, Christiania). See also Partington J.R. A history of chemistry London 1961–1964 4 588 595 and E. von Meyer (footnote 9), 554.
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• The type theory has recently been fully discussed: see Russell The history of valency New York 1971 44 62 N. W. Fisher, ‘Kekulé and organic classification’, Ambix, 21 (1974), 29–52; and H. Gay, ‘Radicals and types: a critical comparison of the methodologies of Popper and Lakatos and their use in the reconstruction of some 19th century chemistry’, Studies in history and philosophy of science, 7 (1976), 1–51 (pp. 27–30).
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• A. W. Hofmann (1848) and A. Wurtz (1849) had explored the possibility of a universal ammonia-type; see Partington J.R. A history of chemistry London 1961–1964 4 437 439
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• Williamson , A.W. 1869 . On the atomic theory . Journal of the Chemical Society , 22 : 350 – 351 .
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• Williamson's address On the atomic theory Journal of the Chemical Society 1869 22 328 365 was presented partially to refute a challenge by B. C. Brodie, that the atomic theory was unverifiable and thus strictly of metaphysical speculation. See D. M. Dallas in W. H. Brock (footnote 5), 31–90.
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• See Discussion of Dr. Williamson's lecture on the atomic theory Chemical news 1869 20 235 237 reprinted in D. M. Knight (ed.), Classical scientific papers: chemistry (1968, New York), 299–301. Compare Knight (footnote 62), 120–122. An interesting discussion of the conflict between atomists and anti-atomists during the latter half of the 19th century has been given recently by M. J. Nye, ‘The nineteenth-century atomic debates and and the dilemma of an “Indifferent hypothesis”’, Studies in history and philosophy of science, 7 (1976), 245–268.
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• 1869 . Discussion of Dr. Williamson's lecture on the atomic theory . Chemical news , 20 : 235 – 236 .
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