12
Limits of Structural Theory
What we observe is not nature itself, but nature exposed to our
method of questioning.
Werner Heissenberg
Abstract
Electronic structure of atoms and molecules, as well as the consequences of this
discovery on the general ways of thinking in science is discussed. It is
demonstrated how the knowledge about the limitations of the Lewis structural
theory has appeared in the moment when the structural theory has been applied
in the theory about reaction mechanisms.
Keywords
Electrons Á Identity Á Valence Á Bohr’s theory of atom Á Bohr’s theory of
molecule Á Electronic structure of molecule Á Magneton Á Lewis electron pairs Á
Theory of reaction mechanisms Á Quantum mechanics Á Nonclassical molecular
structures Á Philosophical generalization of the uncertainty principle
After Thomson’s discovery of electrons, and after the presumption that pairing of
these particles can be the real nature of chemical affinity, say, chemical bond, the
binding lines in the Crum Brown formulas acquire physical meaning. Gilbert
Newton Lewis (1875–1946) has established, starting from this idea, a new form of
the structural theory, which is based on two fundamental presumptions [1]. In the
first presumption, chemical bond is a pair of electrons, and it is in chemical formula
represented by the binding line. The second presumption is for science much more
far-reaching: electrons do not have identity! In the accordance with my
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
H. Vančik, Philosophy of Chemistry, Integrated Science 2,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-69224-7_12
117
Limits of Structural Theory
What we observe is not nature itself, but nature exposed to our
method of questioning.
Werner Heissenberg
Abstract
Electronic structure of atoms and molecules, as well as the consequences of this
discovery on the general ways of thinking in science is discussed. It is
demonstrated how the knowledge about the limitations of the Lewis structural
theory has appeared in the moment when the structural theory has been applied
in the theory about reaction mechanisms.
Keywords
Electrons Á Identity Á Valence Á Bohr’s theory of atom Á Bohr’s theory of
molecule Á Electronic structure of molecule Á Magneton Á Lewis electron pairs Á
Theory of reaction mechanisms Á Quantum mechanics Á Nonclassical molecular
structures Á Philosophical generalization of the uncertainty principle
After Thomson’s discovery of electrons, and after the presumption that pairing of
these particles can be the real nature of chemical affinity, say, chemical bond, the
binding lines in the Crum Brown formulas acquire physical meaning. Gilbert
Newton Lewis (1875–1946) has established, starting from this idea, a new form of
the structural theory, which is based on two fundamental presumptions [1]. In the
first presumption, chemical bond is a pair of electrons, and it is in chemical formula
represented by the binding line. The second presumption is for science much more
far-reaching: electrons do not have identity! In the accordance with my
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
H. Vančik, Philosophy of Chemistry, Integrated Science 2,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-69224-7_12
117