Chemistry

Chemistry is the science which deals with the composition, melecular and atomic structure, and properties of substances and with the transformation that they undergo. Modern chemistry evolved out of alchemy, which had been practiced for several centuries in various parts of the world, particularly during the Middle Ages, when scholars in those days thought that they could transform cheaper metals into gold. Chemistry is often called the central science because it connects the other natural sciences, such as astronomy, physics, biology, and geology.

The influences of philosophers such as Sir Francis Bacon (1561-1626) and Rene Descartes (1596-1650), who demanded more rigor in mathematics and in removing bias from scientific observations, led to a scientific revolution. In chemistry, this began with Robert Boyle (1627-1691), who came up with an equations known as the Boyle's Law about the characteristics of gaseous state. Chemistry indeed came of age when Antoine Lavoisier (1743-1794), developed the theory of Conservation of mass in 1783, and the development of the Atomic Theory by John Dalton around 1800. The Law of Conservation of Mass resulted in the reformulation of chemistry based on this law and the oxygen theory of combustion, which was largely based on the work of Lavoisier.