10
Systematization, Classification,
Structure, and Elements
There is nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so.
William Shakespeare
Abstract
The new definition of the notions of structure and element is in the focus of this
chapter. It is explained how the chemical epistemology based on analogies and
classification can led to the “invention” of the structure, and to its representation
by chemical formulas and chemical nomenclature. Structural theory that origins
from the theory of radicals and the theory of types is in the base of modern
chemistry. I intend to show how the periodic law of classification of chemical
elements is constructed by using the same methodology that was successful in
the formation of the structural theory.
Keywords
Analogy as method Á Structural theory Á Structure Á Isomorphy Á Composition Á
Constitution Á Isomerism Á Vitalism Á Epistemology of contents-language-script Á
Theory of radicals Á Theory of types Á Critics of radical falsificationism Á
Periodic system of elements Á Concept of valence Á Chemical synthesis Á
Concepts of quality and quantity
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Dalton’s law about the multiple ways of combinations of atoms in chemical
compound represents, in principle, the difficulty in experimental determination of
equivalent atomic masses. Since only the ratio of weights of two elements, which
© 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_10
79
Systematization, Classification,
Structure, and Elements
There is nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so.
William Shakespeare
Abstract
The new definition of the notions of structure and element is in the focus of this
chapter. It is explained how the chemical epistemology based on analogies and
classification can led to the “invention” of the structure, and to its representation
by chemical formulas and chemical nomenclature. Structural theory that origins
from the theory of radicals and the theory of types is in the base of modern
chemistry. I intend to show how the periodic law of classification of chemical
elements is constructed by using the same methodology that was successful in
the formation of the structural theory.
Keywords
Analogy as method Á Structural theory Á Structure Á Isomorphy Á Composition Á
Constitution Á Isomerism Á Vitalism Á Epistemology of contents-language-script Á
Theory of radicals Á Theory of types Á Critics of radical falsificationism Á
Periodic system of elements Á Concept of valence Á Chemical synthesis Á
Concepts of quality and quantity
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Dalton’s law about the multiple ways of combinations of atoms in chemical
compound represents, in principle, the difficulty in experimental determination of
equivalent atomic masses. Since only the ratio of weights of two elements, which
© 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_10
79