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This is a list of important publications in chemistry, organized by field. Chemistry (from Greek χημεία khemeia[1] meaning alchemy) is the science of matter at the atomic to molecular scale, dealing primarily with collections of atoms, such as molecules, crystals, and metals. ...
Some reasons why a particular publication might be regarded as important:
- Topic creator – A publication that created a new topic
- Breakthrough – A publication that changed scientific knowledge significantly
- Introduction – A publication that is a good introduction or survey of a topic
- Influence – A publication which has significantly influenced the world
- Latest and greatest – The current most advanced result in a topic
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Foundations
The Sceptical Chymist Description: Boyle, in the form of a dialogue, argued that chemical theories should be firmly grounded in experiment before their acceptance, and for the foundation of Chemistry as a science separate to Medicine and Alchemy. Robert Boyle Robert Boyle (January 25, 1627 – December 30, 1691) was an Irish natural philosopher, chemist, physicist, inventor and early gentleman scientist, noted for his work in physics and chemistry. ...
Medicine is a branch of health science and the sector of public life concerned with maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, treatment and possible prevention of disease and injury. ...
In the history of science, alchemy refers to both an early form of the investigation of nature and an early philosophical and spiritual discipline, both combining elements of chemistry, metallurgy, physics, medicine, astrology, semiotics, mysticism, spiritualism, and art. ...
Importance: Topic Creator, Influence. Boyle, in this book, became the first to argue that experiment should form the basis of all theory, a common practice in Chemistry today. He also expounded on a rudimentary atomic theory and the existence of chemical elements beyond the classic earth, fire, air, and water. Various atoms and molecules as depicted in John Daltons A New System of Chemical Philosophy (1808). ...
Traité Élémentaire de Chimie (Elementary Treatise of Chemistry) - Antoine Lavoisier
- Traité Élémentaire de Chimie, 1789, available in English as Elementary Treatise of Chemistry
Description: This book was intended as an introduction to new theories in Chemistry and as such, was one of the first Chemistry textbooks. Antoine-Laurent de Lavoisier (August 26, 1743 – May 8, 1794) the father of modern chemistry, was a French nobleman prominent in the histories of chemistry, finance, biology, and economics. ...
Importance: Introduction, Influence. Aside from being one of the first Chemistry textbooks, the book was one of the first to state the Law of conservation of mass, define a chemical element, and contain a list of known elements. The law of conservation of mass states that the mass of a system of substances will always remain constant, regardless of the processes acting inside the system. ...
Méthode de Nomenclature Chimique Description: This publication laid out a logical system for naming chemical substances (mainly chemical elements and inorganic compounds) in a logical way. Antoine-Laurent de Lavoisier (August 26, 1743 – May 8, 1794) the father of modern chemistry, was a French nobleman prominent in the histories of chemistry, finance, biology, and economics. ...
Claude Louis Berthollet Claude Louis Berthollet (December 9, 1748 – November 6, 1822) was a French chemist. ...
IUPAC nomenclature is a system of naming chemical compounds and of describing the science of chemistry in general. ...
Water and steam are two different forms of the same chemical substance A chemical substance is any material with a definite chemical composition, no matter where it comes from. ...
The periodic table of the chemical elements A chemical element, often called simply an element, is a substance that cannot be decomposed or transformed into other chemical substances by ordinary chemical processes. ...
An inorganic compound is a chemical compound that is not an organic compound. ...
Importance: Prior to this publication, a multitude of names were often used for the same substance. This publication led to an international consensus on how to name chemical substances.
A New System of Chemical Philosophy Description: This book explained Dalton's theory of atoms and its applications to Chemistry. John Dalton John Dalton (September 6, 1766 – July 27, 1844) was an English chemist and physicist, born at Eaglesfield, near Cockermouth in Cumberland. ...
Importance: Topic Creator, Breakthrough, Influence. The book was one of the first to describe a modern atomic theory, a theory that lies at the basis of modern Chemistry. Surprisingly, given the period in which the book was written, of the five properties of atoms that Dalton listed, only two have been shown to be incorrect
The Dependence Between the Properties of the Atomic Weights of the Elements Description: In this paper the periodic table was introduced. Notice that the table in the above link is the original one. Since then the table structure was slightly changed and new elements were added to it. Portrait of Dimitri Mendeleyev by Ilya Repin Dimitri Mendeleev (Russian: , Dmitriy Ivanovich Mendeleyev ) (8 February 1834 [O.S. 27 January] in Tobolsk – 2 February 1907 [O.S. 20 January] in Saint Petersburg), was a Russian chemist. ...
The periodic table of the chemical elements is a tabular method of displaying the chemical elements, first devised in 1869 by the Russian chemist Dmitri Mendeleev. ...
The periodic table of the chemical elements A chemical element, often called simply an element, is a substance that cannot be decomposed or transformed into other chemical substances by ordinary chemical processes. ...
Importance: Topic creator, Breakthrough, Influence
Organic chemistry is a specific discipline within the subject of chemistry. ...
Science of Synthesis: Houben-Weyl Methods of Molecular Transformations - D. Bellus, E. N. Jacobsen, S. V. Ley, R. Noyori, M. Regitz, P. J. Reider, E. Schaumann, I. Shinkai, E. J. Thomas, B. M. Trost
- Thieme: Stuttgart, 48 volumes, 2000 - 2009 (print and electronic version available)
Description: Contains synthetic models selected by world-renowned experts, with full experimental procedures and background information. Considers methods from journals, books, and patent literature from the early 1800s up to the present day and presents important synthetic methods for all classes of compounds. Critically evaluates the preparative applicability and significance of the synthetic methods.
Importance: Introduction, Reference
March's Advanced Organic Chemistry: Reactions, Mechanisms, and Structure - Michael B. Smith, Jerry March
- Wiley-Interscience, 5th edition, 2001, ISBN 0-471-58589-0
Description: A comprehensive reference for organic chemistry with over 20,000 references.
Importance: Introduction, Reference
The Logic of Chemical Synthesis Description: Describes the logic underlying the rational design of complex organic synthesis. Elias James Corey (born July 12, 1928) is an American organic chemist. ...
Organic synthesis is the construction of organic molecules via chemical processes. ...
Importance: Breakthrough, Influence
Protective Groups in Organic Synthesis - Theodora W. Greene, Peter G. M. Wuts
- Wiley-Interscience, 3rd edition, 1999, ISBN 0-471-16019-9
Description: A comprehensive reference for the usage of protecting groups in organic synthesis. A Protecting group or protective group is introduced into a molecule by chemical modification of a functional group in order to obtain chemoselectivity in a subsequent chemical reaction. ...
Organic synthesis is the construction of organic molecules via chemical processes. ...
Importance: Introduction, Reference
Comprehensive Organic Transformations - Richard C. Larock
- Wiley-VCH
- 1st edition:
- 2nd edition: 1999, ISBN 0-471-19031-4
Description: A standard reference for the practicing organic chemist. These books are just enormous lists of key references indexed by functional group transformations. In organic chemistry, functional groups are specific groups of atoms within molecules, that are responsible for the characteristic chemical reactions of those molecules. ...
Importance: Introduction, Reference
Inorganic chemistry is the branch of chemistry concerned with the properties and reactions of inorganic compounds. ...
Chemical Applications of Group Theory Description: The group theory book for chemists. F. Albert Cotton is the W.T. Doherty-Welch Foundation Chair and Distinguished Professor of Chemistry at Texas A&M University. ...
Importance: Significant influence by introducing group theory to a much wider group of chemists.
Advanced Inorganic Chemistry Description: A classic general textbook for an undergraduate course in inorganic chemistry. F. Albert Cotton is the W.T. Doherty-Welch Foundation Chair and Distinguished Professor of Chemistry at Texas A&M University. ...
Sir Geoffrey Wilkinson was an English chemist He was born 14 July 1921 in the village of Springside, near Todmorden in Yorkshire. ...
Importance: This book is not only a good introduction to the subject, it was very different from earlier texts and altered the way inorganic chemistry was taught. It seemed to be symbolic of the renaissance in inorganic chemistry starting in the 1950s. Every new text in inorganic chemistry since this text has had to respond to it. It had a significant influence on how inorganic chemistry is taught.
Physical Chemistry is the combined science of physics, chemistry, thermodynamics, and quantum mechanics which functions to provide molecular-level interpretations of observed macroscopic phenomena. ...
Physical Chemistry Description: A classic general textbook for an undergraduate course in physical chemistry. Peter William Atkins (born 1940) is a Fellow and professor of chemistry at Lincoln College in the University of Oxford. ...
Importance: This book is not only a good introduction to the subject, it was very different from earlier texts and altered the way physical chemistry was taught. The first edition was very widely used where English is the language of instruction. Other texts had to respond to the lead from Atkins. The current edition is the 8th edition.
Physical Chemistry Description: An encyclopedic text and reference suitable for advanced undergraduate or graduate study. R. Stephen Berry (born 1931 in Denver, Colorado) is a U.S. professor of physical chemistry. ...
Faculty Photo Stuart Alan Rice (born January 6, 1932 in New York City) is an American theoretical chemist and physical chemist. ...
John Ross (b. ...
Importance: This massive text by outstanding research workers begins with simple systems and proceeds logically to the more complex phenomena of physical chemistry. The original literature is cited extensively, making the work useful as a reference as well as a textbook. Many topics of current research are treated. Its advanced and exhaustive coverage of the field, together with extensive coverage of modern topics, eclipses the former champion, the text by E. A. Moelwyn-Hughes.
The Structure of Physical Chemistry Description: This is a scholarly book which as its title suggests gives an overall structure to the discipline of physical chemistry by the British Nobel Prize winner. Sir Cyril Norman Hinshelwood was an English physical chemist. ...
This is a list of Nobel Prize laureates in Chemistry from 1901 to 2006. ...
Importance: An impressively scholarly work which influenced the development of physical chemistry and is still valuable today.
Biochemistry is the study of the chemical processes and transformations in living organisms. ...
A Structure for Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid - Watson and Crick
- Nature 171, 737-738 (1953) © Macmillan Publishers Ltd.
- Online version
Description: In this paper the structure of DNA was proposed. It consisted of a double helix with a phosphate backbone, unlike Linus Pauling and R.B. Corey's double helix where the backbone consisted of the bases. They conclude with the sly remark: "It has not escaped our notice that the specific pairing we have postulated immediately suggests a possible copying mechanism for the genetic material." Watson and Crick refers to the duo of James D. Watson and Francis Crick, who, with the work of Rosalind Franklin, discovered the structure of the DNA molecule in 1953, for which they were awarded the 1962 Nobel Prize award, along with Maurice Wilkins. ...
Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is a nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions for the development and function of living things. ...
Linus Carl Pauling (February 28, 1901 – August 19, 1994) was an American quantum chemist and biochemist. ...
Importance: Topic creator, Breakthrough, Influence
Analytical chemistry is the analysis of material samples to gain an understanding of their chemical composition and structure. ...
Quantitative Analysis - Day, R. A. and Arthur L. Underwood
- Prentice Hall, 6th Edition, 1991, ISBN 0-13-747155-6
Importance: Introduction, Reference , Reference
The Materials Science Tetrahedron, which often also includes Characterization at the center Materials science is an interdisciplinary field involving the properties of matter and its applications to various areas of science and engineering. ...
Polymer chemistry or macromolecular chemistry is a multidisciplinary science that deals with the chemical synthesis and chemical properties of polymers or macromolecules. ...
Environmental chemistry is the scientific study of the chemical and biochemical phenomena that occur in natural places. ...
Pharmacology (in Greek: pharmacon (φάÏμακον) meaning drug, and logos (λόγος) meaning science) is the study of how substances interact with living organisms to produce a change in function. ...
In the thermodynamics and physical chemistry, thermochemistry is the study of the heat evolved or absorbed in chemical reactions. ...
On the Equilibrium of Heterogeneous Substances - Gibbs, Willard
- Trans. Conn. Acad., Vol. III, pp. 108-248, 1876; pp. 343-524, 1878.
Description: paper applied the thermodynamic theory of steam engines to atomic level chemical reactions; i.e., it established equilibrium criteria necessary to predict the thermodynamic tendency of chemical reactions at constant temperature and pressure. Josiah Willard Gibbs (February 11, 1839 – April 28, 1903) was an American mathematical physicist who contributed much of the theoretical foundation that led to the development of chemical thermodynamics and was one of the founders of vector analysis. ...
Importance: topic creator; historian Bill Bryson states, in his A Short History of Nearly Everything, that Gibbs’ Equilibrium paper is "the Principia of thermodynamics". In addition, this paper, in many ways, functions as the mathematical foundation of physical chemistry. Thermodynamics (from the Greek thermos meaning heat and dynamics meaning power) is a branch of physics that studies the effects of changes in temperature, pressure, and volume on physical systems at the macroscopic scale by analyzing the collective motion of their particles using statistics. ...
Physical Chemistry is the combined science of physics, chemistry, thermodynamics, and quantum mechanics which functions to provide molecular-level interpretations of observed macroscopic phenomena. ...
Nuclear chemistry is a subfield of chemistry dealing with radioactivity, nuclear processes and nuclear properties. ...
Radiochemistry and Nuclear Chemistry - Choppin, Liljenenzin and Rydberg
- ISBN 0750674636, Butterworth-Heinemann, 2002
Description: Very comprenhensive textbook on the subject.
Radioactivity, Ionizing radiation and Nuclear Energy - Hála and Navratil
- ISBN 807302053X, Konvoj, 2003
Description: Good basic textbook on the subject, ideal for undergrads.
English chemists John Daniell (left) and Michael Faraday (right), both credited to be founders of electrochemistry as known today. ...
Electrochemical Methods: Fundamentals and Applications - Allen J. Bard, Larry R. Faulkner
- ISBN 0471043729, Wiley, 2000
Description: Very comprenhensive textbook in electrochemistry. Includes basic theory and practical applications.
Importance: One of the most widely used electrochemistry books in the world.
Theoretical chemistry is the use of non-experimental reasoning to explain or predict chemical phenomena. ...
Linus Pauling, as a pioneer of the valence bond theory, is one of the first quantum chemists. ...
Computational chemistry is a branch of chemistry that uses the results of theoretical chemistry incorporated into efficient computer programs to calculate the structures and properties of molecules and solids, applying these programs to real chemical problems. ...
Valence and the structure of atoms and molecules Description: Discusses ionic and covalent bonding (polar and non-polar). Lewis in the Berkeley Lab Gilbert Newton Lewis (October 23, 1875-March 23, 1946) was a famous American physical chemist. ...
Importance: The book that introduced the modern concept of the covalent bond as the sharing of electron pairs, and tried to reconcile the chemist's empirical view of the atom with the physicist's and spectroscopist's quantum mechanical view. It could be considered a precursor to Pauling's books.
Introduction to Quantum Mechanics with Applications to Chemistry - Linus Pauling, E Bright Wilson
- New York, London, McGraw-Hill book company, 1935.
Description: A classic and excellent introduction to quantum mechanics. Linus Carl Pauling (February 28, 1901 – August 19, 1994) was an American quantum chemist and biochemist. ...
Importance: One of the earliest books that introduced quantum mechanics to chemists. It remains well loved by many to this day.
The Nature of the Chemical Bond and the Structure of Molecules and Crystals; An Introduction to Modern Structural Chemistry - Linus Pauling
- Ithaca, N.Y., London, Cornell University Press; H. Milford, Oxford University Press, 1940.
Description: A classic that introduced valence bond theory to chemists in general. Linus Carl Pauling (February 28, 1901 – August 19, 1994) was an American quantum chemist and biochemist. ...
Importance: Of crucial importance, as it probably more than any other book introduced quantum mechanics to experimental chemists. The 1940 First edition was the most significant; the 1959 edition much less so.
Density-Functional Theory of Atoms and Molecules - R. G. Parr and W. Yang,
- Oxford University Press, New York, 1989.
Description: A very thorough and scholarly account of density functional theory. Robert Ghormley Parr (born September 22, 1921) is a theoretical chemist. ...
Importance: This is a good introduction to the subject, but has particular significance in the way it describes how the theory throws new light on old chemical concepts such as electronegativity. The electronegativities on this page are incorrect and need to be updated Electronegativity is a measure of the ability of an atom or molecule to attract electrons in the context of a chemical bond. ...
Supramolecular chemistry refers to the area of chemistry which focuses on the noncovalent bonding interactions of molecules. ...
Supramolecular Chemistry - Concepts and Perspectives - Jean-Marie Lehn
- ISBN -3527293116, VCH, 1995
Description: Comprenhensive textbook written by topic creator. Jean-Marie Lehn (born September 30, 1939) is a French chemist. ...
Importance: Most-popular textbook on subject (according to Amazon.com). Lehn coined the term "supermolecule" in '73, developed the concept of supramolecular chemistry in '78, and won the Nobel Prize for his supramolecular chemistry work in ’87.
Medicinal or pharmaceutical chemistry is a scientific discipline at the intersection of chemistry and pharmacy involved with designing, synthesizing and developing pharmaceutical drugs. ...
The Practice of Medicinal Chemistry - Camille Georges Wermuth editor
- Academic Press, 1996, ISBN 0-12-744640-0
- 2nd edition, Academic Press, 2003, ISBN 0-12-744481-5
Description: A great overview of the theory, methodology, and techniques of drug design.
Importance: Introduction, Influence
Combinatorial chemistry involves the rapid synthesis and/or the computer simulation of a large number of different but structurally related molecules. ...
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