Chemical Engineering



Chemical Engineering

Introduction

A modern, albeit superficial, definition of chemistry is that it is the science dealing with the composition of substances, their properties and reactivity. All matter in the universe is composed of the chemical elements; their systematic study, and that of the compounds they form, is chemistry. Chemistry has earned itself the title of the central science, as the study of matter is fundamental to all other sciences, including physics, materials science, biology, and pharmacology to name just a few (Robinson, 1968). Typical applications of chemistry in modern life include the discovery and development of new drugs; the discovery and production of fuels, plastics, fertilizers, pesticides, vaccines, and foods; the use of chemical techniques by forensic scientists to solve crimes; and the production of new materials and pigments for the clothes we wear and the many functional items in our homes.

It is certain that chemistry has occurred since time began and will prevail until time ceases, and this makes the discussion of chemistry in time both fascinating and hugely important. The impact that the science of chemistry has had on humanity is huge. The ill-defined and semi-empirical beginnings of what we now know as the highly advanced, organized, and multidisciplinary science of chemistry lends well to a general overview of the subject being discussed within the framework of time.

.Chemistry in the Past

Around the 7th century BCE, Thales of Miletus is credited as the first of the Greek philosophers who endeavored to explain the natural world around him without invoking any supernatural phenomena. Indeed, he is arguably the first scientist. The Greeks explained many natural occurrences, such as lightning and earthquakes, as the direct intervention of anthropomorphic gods and heroes. Such mythological reasoning was sidelined by Thales and he instead proposed, for example, that the earth floats on water, and hence the occurrence of earthquakes can be explained by the striking of the earth by waves of water (Hall, 2000). Thales held the view that all matter was ultimately derived from water, although this hypothesis was certainly tainted with the supernatural. Thales' Miletian philosophical descendants were more coy: Anaximander ascribed to all substances being made from apeiron, a single, unknown substance. Subsequently, air (Anaximines) and fire (Heraclitus) were separately proposed to be the basic constituent of all matter.

The publication of The Sceptical Chymist by Robert Boyle in 1661 became a cornerstone in the development of chemistry away from its ...