7th International Conference on the History of Chemistry (7th ICHC) August 1, 2009

The Working Party (WP) on History of Chemistry of the European Association for Chemical and Molecular Sciences (EuCheMS) will hold its bi-annual International Conference on History of Chemistry (7th ICHC) in Sopron, Hungary, from 2 − 5 August 2009.

From 28 July − 2 August 2009 the 23rd International Congress of History of Science and Technology will be held in Budapest, Hungary. At this Congress hundreds of historians of science and technology will meet around the central congress theme ‘Ideas and Instruments in Social Context.’Historians of chemistry therefore have the interesting option of visiting both major events during one visit to Hungary.

The 7th ICHC will focus on the theme of ‘the uses of chemistry (and alchemy)’, which covers both the practical uses of chemistry and the cultural consumption of chemistry. A major aim of the conferences organised by the WP is to facilitate communication between historically interested chemists and historians of chemistry from all over Europe.

Main Topic: Consumers and Experts: The Uses of Chemistry (and Alchemy)

There is a growing trend in the history of technology to examine the development and use of new technology from the user’s (or consumer’s) point of view rather than that of the innovator or producer which has hitherto been the predominant standpoint in that field. This shift in perspective can be particularly valuable for the history of chemistry since chemistry has always been seen as the supremely useful science. Its great utility has been praised for many centuries, whether it be to make gold for princes in the sixteenth century, improving crop yields in the nineteenth century or producing nanomaterials for the aerospace industry in the twenty-first century. It was supported because it was considered to underpin industry, agriculture and medicine. The social impact of chemistry has been considerable, helping to provide clean water and wholesome food, improved housing, and to increase the food supply in the face of a rapidly growing population. Less positively, chemistry has also been used in war, from explosives (and the fixed nitrogen needed to produce them) and poison gases to synthetic petrol and rubber. But the uses of chemistry go beyond the purely practical. Lecturers have made money from chemistry by giving courses on the subject both in universities and to the public at large. Chemistry has also been a major theme in international exhibitions and museums. The expertise of chemists has been used by lawyers to win patent disputes and murder trials, and by governments to develop policy. The uses of chemistry is a topic which branches out from the history of chemistry and alchemy to many other areas, ranging from the history of the chemical industry and pharmacy to the history of medicine, business and economic history, legal history, social history and cultural studies, and museums and the study of material culture. This conference aims at a better understanding of the different ways chemistry and alchemy have been “consumed” in countless ways over the last six or seven hundred years. It also seeks to explore how the consumers of chemicals and chemists were created in their social and economic context. For instance, how did firms generate a demand for their products? The range of potential topics is enormous but it is important in the framework of this conference that these topics should be discussed in terms of the viewpoint of the user or consumer.

Topics and Subtopics

These topics and subtopics overlap considerably and are only suggestions. Potential speakers should simply use this schema to check if their proposed topic is suitable. The actual organisation of the papers at the conference will depend on the number and types of papers submitted and the interconnections between them.

1. Using Chemistry

• Creation of wealth either directly as in alchemy or through selling the products of chemistry


• Chemistry in the media – newspapers, radio, television


• Chemistry in trade exhibitions (including international exhibitions and World Fairs) and museums


• Polemical use of the value of chemistry to promote chemistry, chemicals or scientific progress


• Medicine – making drugs or by increasing understanding of biological processes


• Agriculture – increased understanding of plant growth and nutrition, development of fertilisers and pesticides


• Gas and coal industry – use of chemistry to improve processes and use waste products


• Food, drink and brewing – improving craft-based practices, introducing new methods, food analysis and prevention of adulteration


• Use of chemistry in universities (e.g. to modernise medicine) and in university education


• Public lectures and entertainment


• Books and magazines – both professional and popular

2. Using Chemicals

• Use of chemicals by the public – chemistry sets, household uses (and the decline of such uses), perhaps even misuse (e.g. inhalation, making terrorist devices)


• Impact of chemicals on the environment – using chemicals to make a point about environmental degradation


• Chemicals as historical objects – collections of chemicals in museums, universities and industrial archives


• Chemical industry – as intermediates for other chemicals and for end-products (dyes, agrochemicals, plastics, fibres etc)


• Fertiliser industry – using chemicals to make fertilisers (e.g. making superphosphate) and chemicals as fertilisers (e.g. ammonium nitrate and urea)


• Pharmaceutical industry – to extract natural drugs and as intermediates for synthetic drugs (or directly as drugs, e.g. chloroform)


• Cosmetic, soap and detergent industries


• Food and drink industries – use of adulterants, introduction of useful chemicals into foods and synthetic food products (e.g. sweeteners)


• Other industries (e.g. metals, matches, ceramics, glass, sugar)


• Government and military – explosives, war gases, strategic materials (light metals, synthetic petrol, synthetic rubber)

3. Using Chemists

• Law – expert witnesses, patent agents, patent lawyers, judges


• Media – use of chemists by the media, chemists working in the media


• Government – state patronage of alchemy, state laboratories, tax authorities, defence laboratories, police and interior ministries, civil service, policy advisors, politicians


• Military – active service (e.g. Royal Engineers), munitions advisors, chemical warfare advisors


• Museums and art galleries – curators, conservators, directors, advisors


• International and non-governmental organisations, charities


• By historians – uses of prosopography and the value of biographies


• Academia – teaching (including other subjects such as medicine or metallurgy as well as chemistry), research, libraries, administration


• Schools – teaching, administration


• Chemical industry – research and development, analysis, quality control, process supervision, patent advisors, sales and marketing, as leaders of the firm, consultants


• Other industries – analysis, consultants, non-chemical positions


• Environmental protection – solving environmental problems, pollution analysis

Conference information provided by konferenciakalauz.hu

Official Website: http://www.chemhist2009.mke.org.hu/