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Science 5 November 2004:
Vol. 306. no. 5698, pp. 981 - 982
DOI: 10.1126/science.1089888
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Essays on Science and Society

Also see the archival list of the Essays on Science and Society.

BEYOND THE IVORY TOWER:
Not a Pure Science: Chemistry in the 18th and 19th Centuries

Ursula Klein*

In this essay, Klein argues that most 18th-century chemists were both savants and learned practitioners, but that it was their experimental expertise that was sought after by governments and broader society. Chemical theory began to play a key role in 19th-century experimentation, including the emergence of the synthetic chemical industry.

The author is with the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, Wilhemstrasse 44, 10117 Berlin, Germany. E-mail: klein{at}mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de

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Doctoring geology: the medical origins of the Geological Society.
C. L. E. Lewis (2009)
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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)