The great advances made in Chemistry began with the discovery of fire. With the fire, the man was able to cook their food and got a heat source to heat and protect from wildlife. The kitchen was then the first chemical laboratory, as it were preserved food through cooking. Later, Alchemy emerged that spread in different civilizations, as among the Chinese, Hindus, Egyptians, Arabs and Europeans and among his ideals unattainable the philosopher's stone and the elixir of long life. Robert Boyle is considered by some the father of Chemistry, being responsible for transforming Alchemy in Chemistry, as he introduced the "scientific method". The Lavoisier's ideas gave the chemical the first solid understanding of the nature of chemical reactions. Several advances have created many distinct branches in chemistry, including biochemistry, nuclear chemistry, chemical engineering and organic chemistry. Chemistry achieved scientific status only in the mid-eighteenth century that was previously treated as a branch of Medicine. With the advent of the Industrial Revolution came a demand for professionals in the chemical area, making possible the creation of the first courses and Chemical Societies in Europe and the United States.

1. 1
SCIENCE AND ADVANCES IN CHEMISTRY
Fernando Alcoforado *
The great advances made in the chemistry field began with the discovery of fire. With
the fire, the man was able to cook their food and got a heat source to heat and to protect
from wildlife. The kitchen was then the first chemical laboratory, as it were preserved
food through cooking. It was in the kitchen that the Chinese discovered black
gunpowder during the tenth century in the Han Dynasty. The discovery was made by
accident, as the alchemists of the time trying to find the elixir of long life. Since ancient
times, some elements were already known to man, such as carbon, iron, sulfur, gold,
silver, copper, mercury, tin [MANUAL DA QUÍMICA. Da Alquimia à Química (From
Alchemy to Chemistry). Available on the website
<http://manualdaquimica.uol.com.br//cientistas-que-contribuiram-para-
quimica/mendeleiev-criador-tabela-periodica.htm>, 2014].
It is considered the existence of the practice of Alchemy between the years 300 BC and
1500 A.D. which was begun in Alexandria, a city founded in 331 BC by Alexander, the
Great. One way of ancient thought that developed in that city was an Egyptian art,
khemeia, which is the root of word Chemistry. The khemeia related with mysteries,
superstitions, occultism and religion. This all added to the knowledge of several sages,
giving rise to Alchemy that spread in various civilizations, as among the Chinese,
Hindus, Egyptians, Arabs and Europeans. Among the unattainable ideal of Alchemy
were mainly the philosopher's stone and the elixir of long life.
The alchemists believed it would be possible to turn lead (and any other metal) in gold,
the "transmutation", and that this would be achieved by a particular piece of matter, the
"philosopher's stone" described by Spanish alchemist of the sixteenth century, Arnoldo
de Villanova. This belief of alchemists was based on the philosopher's ideas Aristotle
(384-322 BC), who said that matter was continuous (not formed by atoms as correctly
stated the Greek philosophers Leucippus and Democritus), and it improved the idea of
the four elements of Empedocles. This idea said that all matter was composed of four
elements: water, earth, fire and air, and Aristotle associated to each of them two
"qualities" opposite: cold or hot; dry or wet. Based on this, the alchemists thought of
how each of these elements could become each other if it were removed or added to
"quality" that they possessed in common. These ideas justified the attempt to obtain
gold from the combination of other metals [HUTIN, Serge. História Geral da Alquimia
(General History of Alchemy). Rio de Janeiro: Editora Pensamento, 2010].
Alchemists longed to extract the greatest desires of the human being: eternal life. They
are looking for a "elixir of long life" that would allow immortality. Although this
ritualistic side and never have achieved these objectives, alchemists pioneered the
development of laboratory techniques, such as distillation and sublimation that are used
today by chemists. Alchemy had a mystical character that came from the occult sciences
of Mesopotamia, Persia, Chaldea, Egypt and Syria. Alchemy had an air of legend and
mystery. Two thousand years before the present era, the Babylonians and the Egyptians
sought to synthesize gold and turn base metals into gold. At this time, it was held in
secret because was considered an occult science. Alchemy had strong influence from
the Eastern sciences and alchemists began to attribute supernatural properties of plants,
letters, stones, geometric figures and numbers which were used as amulets, such as 3, 4
and 7. The Alchemy combined chemistry, physics, astrology, philosophy, art,

2. 2
metallurgy, medicine, mysticism and religion. The alchemists used magic formulas and
recitations to invoke favorable gods and demons to chemical operations.
Many alchemists in the Middle Ages were accused of pact with the devil and for this
reason were arrested, excommunicated and burned alive at the bonfire by the Inquisition
of the Catholic Church. To date the use of sulfur is associated with the devil. Many of
the manuscripts of the alchemists were made incomprehensible to those who do not
know. This was done because the alchemists wanted more hide than reveal their
findings. Some of its findings are used today, such as soap making, techniques such as
distillation and discovery of new metals and components. The main purposes of
Alchemy were turning metals such as mercury and lead into gold or silver, prepare the
elixir of long life, a panacea that cures all ills, and developing youth. For the Chinese,
their goal was to achieve immortality. They believed that gold was immortal because it
does not react with almost nothing. Alchemists made elixirs containing arsenic, sulfur
and mercury. Many emperors died poisoned thinking be taking the elixir of long life
[HUTIN, Serge. História Geral da Alquimia (General History of Alchemy). Rio de
Janeiro: Editora Pensamento, 2010].
In the early fifteenth century emerged in the Renaissance, a scientific movement that
was based on rationality, ie a doctrine which claimed that nothing exists without a
reason, without a rational explanation based on experimentalism. It was in this context
that the dogmatic way of thinking, mystical and superstitious of Alchemy began to be
changed by a new way of seeking knowledge through experimental science. In the year
1493 was born Phillipus Aureolus Theophrastus Bombast von Hohenheim, better
known as the doctor Paracelsus. Although still connected to Alchemy, he developed the
iatrochemistry, where the main purpose was the preparation of appropriate drugs to
fight against disease through mineral sources. For him the body was a set of chemicals
that interact harmonically and that if the person was sick, that would mean that there
was a change of this chemical composition, which could be eliminated by chemical
products [MANUAL DA QUÍMICA. Da Alquimia à Química (From Alchemy to
Chemistry). Available on the website <http://manualdaquimica.uol.com.br//cientistas-
que-contribuiram-para-quimica/mendeleiev-criador-tabela-periodica.htm>, 2014].
With the Frenchman René Descartes (1596-1650), scientific thinking began to develop
even more. The pursuit of knowledge has to be based on experimentation and logical
use of Mathematics. Prior to that knowledge were accepted as valid, it was enough to
meet the standards of Philosophy; the experience was not required. Men like Giordano
Bruno, Galileo Galilei and Johannes Kepler did much to separate the Astrology of
Astronomy and Alchemy of Chemistry. But two scientists were striking in this
transition to Chemistry as a science, which were Robert Boyle (1627-1691) and Antoine
Laurent Lavoisier (1743- 1794).
Robert Boyle was called by some as the father of Chemistry, being responsible for
transforming Alchemy in Chemistry, as he introduced the "scientific method". Boyle
took a totally different posture of the alchemists of his time, because he openly
published all the details of his work, advocated the use of experiments to verify the facts
and did not take hypothesis only because they were consecrated. His concept of
scientific research described in his book The Sceptical Chymist (BOYLE, Robert.
Sceptical Chymist. New York: Dover Publications, 2013). Even Robert Boyle fervently
supported a law prohibiting the use of Alchemy to produce the philosopher's stone,
because he considered this an unattainable goal.

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It was with this shift in thinking that the seventeenth century began. This was the
century of the Enlightenment when science moved away from religion. Then came
Lavoisier, who was considered the founder of modern Chemistry, because their studies
were marked by great precision, not only qualitative but mainly quantitative. He used
scales, weighing and making careful measurements, had remarkable precision and
planning. All this meant that he could explain facts that other scientists could not.
Lavoisier overthrew theories like the theory of phlogiston (created by German scientist
Georg Ernst Stahl who said that combustion occurred with certain materials because
they had an "element" or a flammable common principle that was released during
burning), discovered oxygen, explained combustion, created the mass conservation law
and launched the Elementary Treaty of Chemistry, which provided a modern
nomenclature for 33 elements [LAVOISIER, Antoine. Tratado elementar de Química
(Elementary Treaty of Chemistry). São Paulo: Editora Madras, 2007].
From Lavoisier, Chemistry was already a well-founded and established science. Soon,
there was a return of the idea that everything would be composed of atoms. Moreover,
various elements have been discovered, and their chemical and physical properties,
showing that, contrary to what believed alchemists, the "four elements' were not
constituents of the world. Another step forward for the development of Chemistry was
given by Dmitri Ivanovich Mendeleev (1834-1907), when he discovered the Periodic
Table. His doctoral thesis was on the combination of water and alcohol, and between
1868-1870, he wrote two volumes of a textbook that made St. Petersburg in Russia to be
considered as an important center of scientific research. In 1890, he resigned from the
St. Petersburg University and in 1893 became director of the Institute of Weights and
Measures. In this Institute he did experiments and research that led him to find the
perfect combination of water and alcohol for the manufacture of vodka: an alcohol
molecule to two parts of water, which corresponds to 38% alcohol and 62% water
(MANUAL DA QUÍMICA. Da Alquimia à Química (From Alchemy to Chemistry).
Available on the website <http://manualdaquimica.uol.com.br//cientistas-que-
contribuiram-para-quimica/mendeleiev-criador-tabela-periodica.htm>, 2014].
Mendeleev also dedicated to the study of the nature and origin of oil, besides being
considered the founder of agrochemical in Russia. However, the work for which he was
widely recognized worldwide was of the creator in 1869 of the Periodic Table in which
the 63 known chemical elements were written in order of increasing atomic mass in
which various chemical properties were repeated at regular intervals (periodic).
Therefore, his discovery was named the Periodic Table of Elements. The most
impressive of this Mendeleev's discovery and what caused him to seriously be taken by
the scientific community was that he left some gaps, saying that no element fit there
because they had not yet been discovered, but still would be. Moreover, he even
specified what are the properties of chemical elements not yet discovered. And, that's
what really happened.
Shortly after the publication of his table, the elements germanium, gallium and
scandium, which should fill the gaps in Table Mendeleev, were discovered. They
actually had the properties described by Mendeleev. Currently, it is known that the
Mendeleev's table was not entirely correct, because in reality are not the atomic masses
that define the properties of each element, but the atomic number, which is the number
of protons that exists in the atomic nucleus, as it was demonstrated by Moseley. The
Periodic Table of Chemical Elements Current is organized in order of increasing atomic

4. 4
number. Although various settings have been over the years, modern Periodic Tables
continue based on the essential structure created by Mendeleev.
An interesting aspect of chemical discoveries relating Chemistry with Alchemy was the
discovery of radioactivity. For many centuries alchemists have worked hard to turn lead
into gold, and today we know that uranium, a radioactive element, emits radiation and
naturally turns into lead. This shows that an element can turn into another one, just not
the way the alchemists wanted. If we consider that the framework for the emergence of
Chemistry as an experimental science was given by the work of Lavoisier, we see that
Chemistry has little more than 200 years. It is a relatively new science.
From the sixteenth century it was discovered platinum, zinc, nickel, nitrogen, fluorine
and hydrogen. In 1771, Joseph Priestley isolated oxygen for the first time. At the same
time they were discovered chlorine, manganese, molybdenum, tellurium and tungsten.
Later discovered uranium, zirconium, strontium, titanium, chromium. Around 1800, it
was discovered cerium, rhodium, palladium, osmium, iridium and magnesium. Humphy
Davy discovered between 1807 and 1808, many other elements such as sodium,
potassium, calcium and barium. Later, other elements were discovered as iodine,
lithium, cadmium, selenium, silicon, aluminum, bromine, thorium, beryllium and
vanadium. Mosander in 1839 discovered lanthanum. In 1843, it was discovered terbium
and erbium. Through spectroscopy were discovered by Bunsen cesium and rubidium in
1860. The thallium and indium were also identified by spectroscopy. The helium and
boron were discovered as well.
In 1871, the Russian Dmitri Mendeleev predicted some elements that would complete
the Periodic Table. From 1875, some chemists proved the existence of these elements,
confirming what Mendeleyev had predicted. The elements were discovered: gallium,
thulium, ytterbium, scandium, gadolinium, holmium, samarium. In 1885 and 1886, they
were discovered praseodymium, neodymium, dysprosium, and germanium. The inert
argon gas was discovered in 1894 by Sir William Ramsay and was classified as a noble
gas. In 1898, Ramsay also isolated neon (used in neon signs), krypton and xenon.
Around the same time, the couple Curie discovered radioactive elements with properties
such as radium, polonium and actinium. They were discovered after by other chemists
radon, lutetium, protactinium, hafnium and rhenium. By 1925, almost all stable
elements of the Earth's crust were already entered in the Periodic Table.
Synthetic chemicals began to be produced. They are unstable. Before that, it was
discovered technetium, francium, neptunium, plutonium, curium, americium,
promethium, berkelium, californium, einsteinium, fermium, mendelevium, nobelium,
lawrencium, rutherfordium, dubnium, seaborgium, borio, hassium, meitnerium,
Darmstadtium, roentgenium, unúmbio . From the mid-seventeenth century to mid-
nineteenth century, scientists were already using methods more "modern" of discoveries
testing theories with their experiments. One of the great controversies was the mystery
of combustion. Two chemists: Johann Joachim Becher and Georg Ernst Stahl proposed
the theory of phlogiston. This theory was that an "essence" (as hardness or yellow color)
should escape during the combustion process. No one could prove the theory of
phlogiston. The first chemist who proved that oxygen is essential to combustion was
Joseph Priestly. The oxygen and hydrogen were discovered during this period. It was
the French chemist Antoine Lavoisier who formulated the theory currently accepted on
combustion [MANUAL DA QUÍMICA. Da Alquimia à Química (From Alchemy to
Chemistry). Available on the website <http://manualdaquimica.uol.com.br//cientistas-
que-contribuiram-para-quimica/mendeleiev-criador-tabela-periodica.htm>, 2014].

5. 5
It was at this time that Chemistry developed as science. The Lavoisier's ideas gave to
the chemists the first solid understanding of the nature of chemical reactions. Lavoisier
boosted new works, such as John Dalton on atomic theory. The Italian chemist Amadeo
Avogadro formulated his own theory (Avogadro's Law, which is a set of mathematical
laws that deals with the amount of matter in gases at different temperatures). By the
mid-nineteenth century, it was already known about 60 chemical elements. It was also
at this time that some chemists have felt the need to group the chemical elements
according to their characteristics. Newlands, Stanislao Cannizzaro and Chancourtois
were the first to notice that all the elements were similar in structure. But it was Dmitri
Mendeleev who classified the elements and grouped them in a table, which is now
known Periodic Table. The couple Curie and Henri Becquerel were the discoverers of
radioactivity in the mid 1896. It was a step in the study of nuclear reactions. In 1919,
Ernest Rutherford discovered that the elements can be transmuted. Rutherford's work
has set the basis for the interpretation of atomic structure. Shortly after, another chemist,
Niels Bohr, completed the atomic theory.
Several advances have created many distinct branches in Chemistry, including
Biochemistry, Nuclear Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Organic Chemistry.
Chemistry achieved scientific status only in the mid-eighteenth century that was
previously treated as a branch of Medicine. With the advent of the Industrial Revolution
came a demand for professionals in the chemical area, making possible the creation of
the first courses and Chemical Societies in Europe and the United States. It began so the
professionalization of Chemistry (FARIAS, André. A inovação tecnológica e o avanço
científico: a química em perspective (Technological innovation and scientific
advancement:. The prospect in Chemistry). Available on the website
<http://www.scielo.br/pdf/qn/v23n6/3545.pdf>. 2000].
Disputes between national states have been one of the most recurrent motivations in the
history of science, because governments value the national scientific development to
achieve and maintain supremacy, or at least a balance in relation to rival countries. A
striking example of this type of dispute occurred between the kingdoms of France and
England, in the second half of the eighteenth century, to develop a barilla production
method on an industrial scale. It is noteworthy that barilla is a chemical product used to
make the most common type of glass, flat glass manufacturing (for windows and
automobiles), lighting, glasses for laboratory, bottles, TVs and other products. It is used
also in many household products, in laundry, in the kitchen or bathroom as sodium
carbonate which is a useful additive in detergents and cleaning products and as
photographic chemicals. It is also used in the production of sodium bicarbonate, which
is an essential ingredient of the beverage, coverings, detergents, food, dialysis, and
personal care markets. Another episode that illustrates the social forces that induce
scientific and technological development was the race in the early twentieth century to
discover a method of industrial synthesis of ammonia and nitric acid. This effort was
initially due to the fact that the saltpeter deposits in Chile were in the process of
exhaustion and that there would be a worldwide fall in agricultural production without
this fertilizer. However, another form of pressure soon proved more powerful: the
discovery of nitroglycerin and dynamite by Alfred Nobel made nitric acid an input of
military interest.
With the proximity of a conflagration of major proportions in Europe (1st
World War),
this technological race quickly turned into a war effort in the main countries involved in
the confrontation. In 1913, the German chemist Fritz Haber, then director of the

6. 6
Institute of Physical Chemistry and Electrochemistry Kaiser Wilhelm, in partnership
with Carl Bosch developed the industrial production of chemical weapons used in
World War 1. Haber was trying to discover Ammonia Synthesis process because, at that
time, Germany needed urgently produce more fertilizer. Haber is considered the
"father" of chemical weapons. Its impact in the scientific community was enormous that
ended World War I, Haber was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1918. Another
war effort like this, but much larger, occurred in the United States during World War II,
with the creation of the Manhattan Project at Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory, headed
by J. Robert Oppenheimer.
As in the case of the race for the synthesis of nitric acid, this event demonstrates one of
militarism imperatives: to develop always new defense and attack technologies and
always before the rival countries do, hence the pressure for rapid technological
overcoming noted during these and other war efforts. This was one of the major
scientific and technological projects in history and one that had the greatest social
impact, resulting in the creation of the atomic bomb. In this climate of post-war
uncertainty, called Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union, there
were other large projects, such as the race for the construction of the hydrogen bomb, in
the 1950s, and the space race from the next decade.
* Fernando Alcoforado, member of the Bahia Academy of Education, engineer and doctor of Territorial
Planning and Regional Development from the University of Barcelona, a university professor and
consultant in strategic planning, business planning, regional planning and planning of energy systems, is
the author of Globalização (Editora Nobel, São Paulo, 1997), De Collor a FHC- O Brasil e a Nova
(Des)ordem Mundial (Editora Nobel, São Paulo, 1998), Um Projeto para o Brasil (Editora Nobel, São
Paulo, 2000), Os condicionantes do desenvolvimento do Estado da Bahia (Tese de doutorado.
Universidade de Barcelona, http://www.tesisenred.net/handle/10803/1944, 2003), Globalização e
Desenvolvimento (Editora Nobel, São Paulo, 2006), Bahia- Desenvolvimento do Século XVI ao Século XX
e Objetivos Estratégicos na Era Contemporânea (EGBA, Salvador, 2008), The Necessary Conditions of
the Economic and Social Development-The Case of the State of Bahia (VDM Verlag Dr. Muller
Aktiengesellschaft & Co. KG, Saarbrücken, Germany, 2010), Aquecimento Global e Catástrofe
Planetária (P&A Gráfica e Editora, Salvador, 2010), Amazônia Sustentável- Para o progresso do Brasil e
combate ao aquecimento global (Viena- Editora e Gráfica, Santa Cruz do Rio Pardo, São Paulo, 2011),
Os Fatores Condicionantes do Desenvolvimento Econômico e Social (Editora CRV, Curitiba, 2012) and
Energia no Mundo e no Brasil- Energia e Mudança Climática Catastrófica no Século XXI (Editora CRV,
Curitiba, 2015).