Modern chemical science had its origins in the Enlightenment period, and so did its literature. Papers on chemical topics were published in many scholarly journals, often those of various academies and philosophical societies throughout Europe and America. Journals dedicated to chemistry, such as Crell's Chemisches Journal (1778) and Lavoisier's Annales de Chimie (1789), began to appear in the late 18th century. Abstracts of literature appeared almost simultaneously in various publications, including Crell's. Yet for most English-speakers, 1907 -- the year Chemical Abstracts began -- is the watershed date that now serves as a somewhat arbitrary demarcation between "modern" and "historical" chemistry. This guide lists some resources that can be helpful in identifying and locating older chemical literature. Remember that your best resource in this area is your librarian.
Note: It was common practice through the 19th century for an author to publish multiple versions of an article in different journals and languages, in order to maximize his audience. Keep this in mind when tracking down a reference from this period - the paper may be available in English as well as German and French. The Catalogue of Scientific Papers (see below under Historical Indexes) helpfully collates these versions in a single entry.
The CSP is by far the best source for identifying 19th century scholarly papers by author in all the sciences except medicine and surgery. It was compiled by the Royal Society of London. The Catalogue is an author bibliography divided by date ranges: v. 1-6: 1800-1863; v. 7-8: 1864-1873; v. 9-11: 1874-1883; v.12: Supplementary volume, 1800-1883; v.13-19: 1884-1900. During this period it was common practice for an author to publish multiple versions and translations of the same article in different journals: these are helpfully collated in a single entry. Separate subject indexes were planned, but only three were published, covering mathematics, mechanics, and physics. Here is a breakdown of the volumes for purposes of isolating and browsing by author surname in free scanned versions:
Various scanned library copies are also available:
The Catalogue of Scientific Papers was continued after 1901 by a multi-part index published by the Royal Society. Citations are found in each issue's author section; an elaborate classified subject index accompanies each. This unwieldy and expensive project ended due to World War I. A reprint "miniprint" version was published in 1969 (magnifying glass recommended). Part D, in 14 issues, covered chemistry through 1914. Scans can be found here:
This pioneering German abstracting journal began in 1830 as Pharmaceutisches Central-blatt, and later (1850-55) Chemische-Pharmaceutisches Central-blatt. After 1897 it was published by the Deutsche Chemische Gesellschaft. Although it is a challenge to use for the non-German reader, it is an important resource for identifying historical chemical and pharmacy publications. CZ's expert coverage of European chemistry was superior to CA's until World War II, and some of the two million published abstracts were more like brief review articles, which are occasionally cited on their own merits. CZ's quality and timeliness declined sharply after the war, not helped by its being co-produced in West and East Germany. It ceased in 1969. A listing of periodicals covered by CZ can be found in Periodica chimica (2nd ed., 1952 and a 1962 supplement, by M. Pflücke, QD 9 P45 1952).
CAS has added selected machine-translated records from the 1897-1906 period to the CAPLUS file in SciFinder. In 2016 CAS launched the entire database as an add-on product in SciFinder, but UT Austin does not subscribe to this feature. Some scanned volumes prior to 1923 are open to public view in the Hathi Trust catalog. CZ has also been digitized by FIZ CHEMIE Berlin for purchase as an intranet database.
The history of science is largely inseparable from the study of the men and women who did the work. Thus most of the sources listed here are biographical in nature. Histories of pre-modern chemistry and alchemy are held primarily in PCL, while modern chemical history is centered in the Chemistry Library. The Harry Ransom Center has a significant collection of rare and early scientific books.
Some materials related to the history of UT's chemistry department are found in our repository, Texas ScholarWorks.
UT Austin Chemistry Dept.: A Faculty Genealogy chart was displayed for many years in the Mallet Chemistry Library. If you are interested in the genealogy of a current or past faculty member, please contact the chemistry librarian.
Biographies
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