The history of chemical laboratories: a thematic approach.

Chemical laboratories have existed since the late sixteenth century. Two basic designs have dominated this history: a furnace-centred laboratory based on earlier alchemical workshops up to around 1820 and then a design based on the use of the Bunsen burner with benches and bottle racks since the 1850s (the "classical" laboratory). New designs with a focus on health and safety began to appear at the end of the twentieth century. There has been an important interaction between the design of the laboratory and chemical practice, including how chemistry was taught. In particular, the introduction of running water and piped gas was crucial to the creation of the "classical" laboratory in the 1860s. One aspect of the classical laboratory which has disappeared is the chemical museum. This article considers university, industrial and school laboratories, and also the social organisation of the laboratory. Finally, the article considers the future of chemical laboratories and chemical practice.

The fall and rise of the history of recent chemistry.

This paper defines the history of recent chemistry, and then charts the disappearance of the history of recent chemistry ("how we got here" history) from general histories of chemistry by the late 1930s. It is also shown how the history of recent chemistry in the early decades of the twentieth century was very much the history of physical chemistry. The revival of the history of recent chemistry is attributed to Eduard Farber and Aaron lhde. Several attempts have been made since the early 1980s to promote the history of recent chemistry, with mixed results. The current situation is assessed, and the paper concludes with a proposal for the entrenchment of the subject.

A study in mauve: unveiling Perkin's dye in historic samples.

The analysis of different historic mauve samples--mauve salts and dyed textiles--was undertaken to establish the exact nature of the iconic dye produced by W. H. Perkin in the nineteenth century. Fourteen samples from important museum collections were analyzed, and it was determined that, in contrast to the general wisdom that mauveine consists of C(26) and C(27) structures, Perkin's mauveine is a complex mixture of at least thirteen methyl derivatives (C(24) to C(28)) with a 7-amino-5-phenyl-3-(phenylamino)phenazin-5-ium core. A fingerprint was established in which mauveines A or B were dominant, and in which mauveines B2 and C(25) were found to be important tracers to probe the original synthesis. Counterion analysis showed that all the mauve salts should be dated after 1862. Perkin's original recipe could be identified in three textile samples, and in these cases, mauveines A and C(25) were found to be the major chromophores. These are now shown to be the samples containing the "original mauve".