Historical Perspective

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1、Chapter1HistoricalPerspectiveAnyscientificpursuitstartsoutwithanexaminationofobjectsandphe-nomenaofinterestandproceedsbytheaccumulationofrelevantdata.Asregularitiesemerge,classificationofrelatedfactsinevitablyleadstothefor-mulationoflawsandhypothesesthatstimulateexperimentaldesign,unt

2、ilbetterunderstandingculminatesinageneraltheory.Thewiderthefieldofenquirythemorecumbersomethedevelopmentoftheoreticalunderstandingwouldbe.Inasubjectlikechemistrywithsomanyfacetsitisevenmoredifficulttorecognizethecentralissuestofeatureinacomprehensivetheory.Chemistryhasitsrootsinalchemy

3、,bestdescribedasthemostextensiveprojectinappliedresearchofalltime.Itpursuedasingle-mindedsearchforthephilosopher’sstoneandtheelixiroflifeformorethanathousandyears,throughthemiddleagesandintothemodernera.Itreliedwithdogmaticcertaintyonagiventheorythatclearlyspecifiedthepowersofthephil

4、oso-pher’sstoneanditshiddenexistence.Noroomwasleftforimprovementorfalsificationofthetheoryandfailedexperimentsweredocumentedwiththesolepurposeofavoidingthesamemistakesinfuture.Claimsofsuccessfulproductionofalchemicalgoldwerefiercelyprotectedsecretsandtheonlyvisiblebenefitswereintheisol

5、ation,purificationandcharacterizationofthe-oreticallyirrelevantchemicalsubstances.Alchemy,inthissense,istheexactantithesisofscientificendeavour.Insciencethereisnoauthorityorinfallibletheory.Anytheorythatclaimsfinalvaliditystiflesfurtherprogress.Thecurrentchemicalversionofquantumtheoryis

6、indangerofassumingsuchstature.Aswithalchemy,toomanyresourcesarecommittedunderitsassumedinfallibilityandthepresumedrewardawaitingultimatesuccessissimplytooalluringtoignore.Afreshlookattheuncriticaluseofquantummechanicsinchemistrycouldthereforebearewardingexercise.Forexam-ple,theexact

7、meaningofafamiliarconcept,suchasorbitalhybridization,asaworkingmodel,maywellappearnottobeofcrucialtheoreticalimpor-34CHAPTER1.HISTORICALPERSPECTIVEtance,exceptthatitalsofeaturesintheinterpretationofalargenumberofimportantsecondaryphenomena.Anyunresolvedprimaryambiguitycouldeasilybec

8、omeinflatedtoproduce