From the history of chemistry

Chemistry is the science which deals with materials, their properties and the transformations they undergo. So, chemistry is the study of the composition and properties of matter, their changes, the conditions under which such changes take place, and the energy changes which accompany them.

Chemistry is concerned with the nature of fire and the structure of water, it deals with colours, catalysis and crystal structure, with physical properties and chemical reactivity.

Chemistry is one of the fundamental sciences. It plays an important part in the development of biochemistry, physics, geology, and many other fields of science. Chemistry’s origin goes back to ancient times, with the manufacture of bronze, iron, ceramics, glass. At the end of 16th century sufficient facts, entirely free of magic which surrounded the work of the alchemists, appeared.

In the 17^th century modern chemistry began with the work of Robert Boyle. He was the first who studied quantitatively the relationship between the volume of a gas and the external pressure upon it. Later A. Lavoisier introduced the concept of the chemical elements.

In the 19th century A. Avogadro introduced the concept of molecules. He stated that equal volumes of gases under the same conditions of temperature and pressure contain the same number of molecules.

F.A. Kekule and A. M. Butlerov introduced the structural theory of organic chemistry. In 1869 D. I. Mendeleev discovered regularities in the properties of the elements. His discovery was the greatest in the chemistry.

Many great scientists devoted their life to the development of chemistry, among them Bohr whose theory of the hydrogen atom was very important, the Curies who in 1934 announced the preparation of artificially radioactive elements, Marie Curie who discovered radium and polonium.

Everyone now understands the importance of chemistry. The future of chemistry is practically unlimited. Rapid development of chemical industry will make it possible to create many new goods, machines, plastics, polymers; it will help to understand many new phenomena.