万物简史英文版_比尔·布莱森-第20章

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a　hundred　years　after　his　death；　a　statue　of　lavoisier　was　erected　in　paris　and　muchadmired　until　someone　pointed　out　that　it　looked　nothing　like　him。　under　questioning　thesculptor　admitted　that　he　had　used　the　head　of　the　mathematician　and　philosopher　the　marquisde　condorcet鈥攁pparently　he　had　a　spare鈥攊n　the　hope　that　no　one　would　notice　or；　havingnoticed；　would　care。　in　the　second　regard　he　was　correct。　the　statue　of　lavoisier…cum…condorcet　was　allowed　to　remain　in　place　for　another　half　century　until　the　second　worldwar　when；　one　morning；　it　was　taken　away　and　melted　down　for　scrap。

in　the　early　1800s　there　arose　in　england　a　fashion　for　inhaling　nitrous　oxide；　or　laughinggas；　after　it　was　discovered　that　its　use　鈥渨as　attended　by　a　highly　pleasurable　thrilling。鈥潯�forthe　next　half　century　it　would　be　the　drug　of　choice　for　young　people。　one　learned　body；　theaskesian　society；　was　for　a　time　devoted　to　little　else。　theaters　put　on　鈥渓aughing　gasevenings鈥潯�where　volunteers　could　refresh　themselves　with　a　robust　inhalation　and　thenentertain　the　audience　with　their　ical　staggerings。

it　wasn鈥檛　until　1846　that　anyone　got　around　to　finding　a　practical　use　for　nitrous　oxide；　asan　anesthetic。　goodness　knows　how　many　tens　of　thousands　of　people　suffered　unnecessaryagonies　under　the　surgeon鈥檚　knife　because　no　one　thought　of　the　gas鈥檚　most　obvious　practicalapplication。

i　mention　this　to　make　the　point　that　chemistry；　having　e　so　far　in　the　eighteenthcentury；　rather　lost　its　bearings　in　the　first　decades　of　the　nineteenth；　in　much　the　way　thatgeology　would　in　the　early　years　of　the　twentieth。　partly　it　was　to　do　with　the　limitations　ofequipment鈥攖here　were；　for　instance；　no　centrifuges　until　the　second　half　of　the　century；severely　restricting　many　kinds　of　experiments鈥攁nd　partly　it　was　social。　chemistry　was；generally　speaking；　a　science　for　businesspeople；　for　those　who　worked　with　coal　and　potashand　dyes；　and　not　gentlemen；　who　tended　to　be　drawn　to　geology；　natural　history；　and　physics。

（this　was　slightly　less　true　in　continental　europe　than　in　britain；　but　only　slightly。）　it　isperhaps　telling　that　one　of　the　most　important　observations　of　the　century；　brownian　motion；which　established　the　active　nature　of　molecules；　was　made　not　by　a　chemist　but　by　a　scottishbotanist；　robert　brown。　（what　brown　noticed；　in　1827；　was　that　tiny　grains　of　pollensuspended　in　water　remained　indefinitely　in　motion　no　matter　how　long　he　gave　them　tosettle。　the　cause　of　this　perpetual　motion鈥攏amely　the　actions　of　invisible　molecules鈥攚aslong　a　mystery。）things　might　have　been　worse　had　it　not　been　for　a　splendidly　improbable　character　namedcount　von　rumford；　who；　despite　the　grandeur　of　his　title；　began　life　in　woburn；massachusetts；　in　1753　as　plain　benjamin　thompson。　thompson　was　dashing　and　ambitious；鈥渉andsome　in　feature　and　figure；鈥潯�occasionally　courageous　and　exceedingly　bright；　butuntroubled　by　anything　so　inconveniencing　as　a　scruple。　at　nineteen　he　married　a　rich　widowfourteen　years　his　senior；　but　at　the　outbreak　of　revolution　in　the　colonies　he　unwisely　sidedwith　the　loyalists；　for　a　time　spying　on　their　behalf。　in　the　fateful　year　of　1776；　facing　arrest鈥渇or　lukewarmness　in　the　cause　of　liberty；鈥潯�he　abandoned　his　wife　and　child　and　fled　justahead　of　a　mob　of　anti…royalists　armed　with　buckets　of　hot　tar；　bags　of　feathers；　and　anearnest　desire　to　adorn　him　with　both。

he　decamped　first　to　england　and　then　to　germany；　where　he　served　as　a　military　advisorto　the　government　of　bavaria；　so　impressing　the　authorities　that　in　1791　he　was　named　countvon　rumford　of　the　holy　roman　empire。　while　in　munich；　he　also　designed　and　laid　out　thefamous　park　known　as　the　english　garden。

in　between　these　undertakings；　he　somehow　found　time　to　conduct　a　good　deal　of　solidscience。　he　became　the　world鈥檚　foremost　authority　on　thermodynamics　and　the　first　toelucidate　the　principles　of　the　convection　of　fluids　and　the　circulation　of　ocean　currents。　healso　invented　several　useful　objects；　including　a　drip　coffeemaker；　thermal　underwear；　and　atype　of　range　still　known　as　the　rumford　fireplace。　in　1805；　during　a　sojourn　in　france；　hewooed　and　married　madame　lavoisier；　widow　of　antoine…laurent。　the　marriage　was　not　asuccess　and　they　soon　parted。　rumford　stayed　on　in　france；　where　he　died；　universallyesteemed　by　all　but　his　former　wives；　in　1814。

but　our　purpose　in　mentioning　him　here　is　that　in　1799；　during　a　paratively　briefinterlude　in　london；　he　founded　the　royal　institution；　yet　another　of　the　many　learnedsocieties　that　popped　into　being　all　over　britain　in　the　late　eighteenth　and　early　nineteenthcenturies。　for　a　time　it　was　almost　the　only　institution　of　standing　to　actively　promote　theyoung　science　of　chemistry；　and　that　was　thanks　almost　entirely　to　a　brilliant　young　mannamed　humphry　davy；　who　was　appointed　the　institution鈥檚　professor　of　chemistry　shortlyafter　its　inception　and　rapidly　gained　fame　as　an　outstanding　lecturer　and　productiveexperimentalist。

soon　after　taking　up　his　position；　davy　began　to　bang　out　new　elements　one　afteranother鈥攑otassium；　sodium；　magnesium；　calcium；　strontium；　and　aluminum　or　aluminium；depending　on　which　branch　of　english　you　favor。

1he　discovered　so　many　elements　not　somuch　because　he　was　serially　astute　as　because　he　developed　an　ingenious　technique　ofapplying　electricity　to　a　molten　substance鈥攅lectrolysis；　as　it　is　known。　altogether　hediscovered　a　dozen　elements；　a　fifth　of　the　known　total　of　his　day。　davy　might　have　done　farmore；　but　unfortunately　as　a　young　man　he　developed　an　abiding　attachment　to　the　buoyantpleasures　of　nitrous　oxide。　he　grew　so　attached　to　the　gas　that　he　drew　on　it　（literally）　three　orfour　times　a　day。　eventually；　in　1829；　it　is　thought　to　have　killed　him。

fortunately　more　sober　types　were　at　work　elsewhere。　in　1808；　a　dour　quaker　named　johndalton　became　the　first　person　to　intimate　the　nature　of　an　atom　（progress　that　will　bediscussed　more　pletely　a　little　further　on）；　and　in　1811　an　italian　with　the　splendidlyoperatic　name　of　lorenzo　romano　amadeo　carlo　avogadro；　count　of　quarequa　and　cerreto；made　a　discovery　that　would　prove　highly　significant　in　the　long　term鈥攏amely；　that　twoequal　volumes　of　gases　of　any　type；　if　kept　at　the　same　pressure　and　temperature；　will　containidentical　numbers　of　molecules。

two　things　were　notable　about　avogadro鈥檚　principle；　as　it　became　known。　first；　itprovided　a　basis　for　more　accurately　measuring　the　size　and　weight　of　atoms。　usingavogadro鈥檚　mathematics；　chemists　were　eventually　able　to　work　out；　for　instance；　that　atypical　atom　had　a　diameter　of　0。00000008　centimeters；　which　is　very　little　indeed。　andsecond；　almost　no　one　knew　about　avogadro鈥檚　appealingly　simple　principle　for　almost　fiftyyears。

2partly　this　was　because　avogadro　himself　was　a　retiring　fellow鈥攈e　worked　alone；corresponded　very　little　with　fellow　scientists；　published　few　papers；　and　attended　nomeetings鈥攂ut　also　it　was　because　there　were　no　meetings　to　attend　and　few　chemicaljournals　in　which　to　publish。　this　is　a　fairly　extraordinary　fact。　the　industrial　revolution　was1the　confusion　over　the　aluminum/aluminium　spelling　arose　b　cause　of　some　uncharacteristic　indecisiveness　ondavys　part。　when　he　first　isolated　the　element　in　1808；　he　called　it　alumium。　for　son　reason　he　thought　better　ofthat　and　changed　it　to　aluminum　four　years　later。　americans　dutifully　adopted　the　new　term；　but　mai　britishusers　disliked　aluminum；　pointing　out　that　it　disrupted　the　…ium　pattern　established　by　sodium；　calcium；　andstrontium；　so　they　added　a　vowel　and　syllable。

2the　principle　led　to　the　much　later　adoption　of　avogadros　number；　a　basic　unit　of　measure　in　chemistry；　whichwas　named　for　avogadro　long　after　his　death。　it　is　the　number　of　molecules　found　in　2。016　grams　of　hydrogengas　（or　an　equal　volume　of　any　other　gas）。　its　value　is　placed　at　6。0221367　x　1023；　which　is　an　enormously　largenumber。　chemistry　students　have　long　amused　themselves　by　puting　just　how　large　a　number　it　is；　so　i　canreport　that　it　is　equivalent　to　the　number　of　popcorn　kernels　needed　to　cover　the　united　states　to　a　depth　of　ninemiles；　or　cupfuls　of　water　in　the　pacific　ocean；　or　soft　drink　cans　that　would；　evenly　stacked；　cover　the　earth　to　adepth　of　200　miles。　an　equivalent　number　of　american　pennies　would　be　enough　to　make　every　person　on　eartha　dollar　trillionaire。　it　is　a　big　number。

driven　in　large　part　by　developments　in　chemistry；　and　yet　as　an　organized　science　chemistrybarely　existed　for　decades。

the　chemical　society　of　london　was　not　founded　until　1841　and　didn鈥檛　begin　to　produce　aregular　journal　until　1848；　by　which　time　most　learned　societies　in　britain鈥攇eological；geographical；　zoological；　horticultural；　and　linnaean　（for　naturalists　and　botanists）鈥攚ere　atleast　twenty　years　old　and　often　much　more。　the　rival　institute　of　chemistry　didn鈥檛　e　intobeing　until　1877；　a　year　after　the　founding　of　the　american　chemical　society。　becausechemistry　was　so　slow　to　get　organized；　news　of　avogadro鈥檚　important　breakthrough　of　1811didn鈥檛　begin　to　bee　general　until　the　first　international　chemistry　congress；　in　karlsruhe；in　1860。

because　chemists　for　so　long　worked　in　isolation；　conventions　were　slow　to　emerge。　untilwell　into　the　second　half　of　the　century；　the　formula　h2o2might　mean　water　to　one　chemistbut　hydrogen　peroxide　to　another。　c2h4could　signify　ethylene　or　marsh　gas。　there　was　hardlya　molecule　that　was　uniformly　represented　everywhere。

chemists　also　used　a　bewildering　variety　of　symbols　and　abbreviations；　often　self…invented。

sweden鈥檚　j。　j。　berzelius　brought　a　much…needed　measure　of　order　to　matters　by　decreeing　thatthe　elements　be　abbreviated　on　the　basis　of　their　greek　or　latin　names；　which　is　why　theabbreviation　for　iron　is　fe　（from　the　latin　ferrum　）　and　that　for　silver　is　ag　（from　the　latinargentum　）。　that　so　many　of　the　other　abbreviations　accord　with　their　english　names　（n　fornitrogen；　o　for　oxygen；　h　for　hydrogen；　and　so　on）　reflects　english鈥檚　latinate　nature；　not　itsexalted　status。　to　indicate　the　number　of　atoms　in　a　molecule；　berzelius　employed　asuperscript　notation；　as　in　h2o。　later；　for　no　special　reason；　the　fashion　became　to　render　thenumber　as　subscript：　h2o。

despite　the　occasional　tidyings…up；　chemistry　by　the　second　half　of　the　nineteenth　centurywas　in　something　of　a　mess；　which　is　why　everybody　was　so　pleased　by　the　rise　toprominence　in　1869　of　an　odd　and　crazed…looking　professor　at　the　university　of　st。　petersburgnamed　dmitri　ivanovich　mendeleyev。

mendeleyev　（also　sometimes　spelled　mendeleev　or　mendel茅ef）　was　born　in　1834　attobolsk；　in　the　far　west　of　siberia；　into　a　well…educated；　reasonably　prosperous；　and　verylarge　family鈥攕o　large；　in　fact；　that　history　has　lost　track　of　exactly　how　many　mendeleyevsthere　were：　some　sources　say　there　were　fourteen　children；　some　say　seventeen。　all　agree；　atany　rate；　that　dmitri　was　the　youngest。　luck　was　not　always　with　the　mendeleyevs。　whendmitri　was　small　his　father；　the　headmaster　of　a　local　school；　went　blind　and　his　mother　hadto　go　out　to　work。　clearly　an　extraordinary　woman；　she　eventually　became　the　manager　of　asuccessful　glass　factory。　all　went　well　until　1848；　when　the　factory　burned　down　and　thefamil