A new chronology is introduced to address the history of chemistry, with educational purposes, particularly for the end of the twentieth century and here identified as the fifth chemical revolution. Each revolution are considered in terms of the Kuhnian notion of ‘exemplar,’ rather than ‘paradigm.’ This approach enables the incorporation of instruments, as well as concepts and the rise of new subdisciplines into the revolutionary process and provides a more adequate representation of such periods of development and consolidation. The fifth (...) revolution developed from 1973 to 1999 and is characterized by a deep transformation in the very heart of chemistry. That is to say, the size and type of objects, the way in which they must be done and the time in which they are transformed. In one way or another, chemistry’ limits had been set out. (shrink)

A layered interpretation of the history of chemistry is discussed through chemical revolutions. A chemical revolution mainly by emplacement, instead of replacement, procedures were identified by: a radical reinterpretation of existing thought recognized by contemporaries themselves, which means the appearance of new concepts and the arrival of new theories; the use of new instruments changed the way in which its practitioners looked and worked in the world and through exemplars, new entities were discovered or incorporated; the opening of new subdisciplines, (...) which produced, separated scientific communities. The fourth chemical revolution, fundamentally characterized by the incorporation of new instruments in chemical practices is discussed. (shrink)

The 2016 Royal Society of Chemistry’s report Future of the Chemical Sciences presents four different scenarios for the future of chemistry: chemistry saves the world; push-button chemistry; a world without chemists; and free market chemistry. In this paper we ethically assess them. If chemistry is to solve many of the greatest challenges facing the contemporary world, prioritization of research topics will need to be done explicitly on the basis of moral values, ​​such as solidarity and equity, but also environmental justice, (...) which will have to be central in determining a research agenda for chemistry. The decentralization of chemistry will also present ethical challenges to the research standards established by the scientific community. Ethical education in chemistry may help counteract these risks. We also argue that if chemistry and its subdisciplines are to fulfil their goal of generating knowledge and helping us solve the great challenges of the contemporary world, then it is ethically imperative that scientists from different disciplines be more open to interdisciplinary work. Finally, if the future of chemistry is in free market forms, then it is necessary that we pay more attention to the possible risks that this model has. We call attention to two: first, it is likely that problems that affect the lowest income countries or the most disadvantaged sectors of society, who do not have the means to pay for some of the goods and services, will not be addressed; second, the free market tends to foster unsustainable forms of development. (shrink)

Resumen La química tal y como la conocemos hoy es un sistema de prácticas científicas estables y experimentales que se enseñan de la misma manera en la mayoría de los países. Es heredera de una multitud de oficios que coinciden en el objetivo de transformar y crear nuevas sustancias. Aquí se discute el límite material de la sustancia química mediante el ejemplo del carbono, y en particular del experimento de difracción del C60. Con ello se intentará precisar el concepto de (...) sustancia química y su relevancia en la discusión filosófica actual.Chemistry, as we know it today, is a system of scientific, experimental practices, stabilized and taught in the same way in most countries. It is the inheritor of several trades whose objective is to transform and create new substances. I discuss here the material limit of the chemical substance, exemplified by carbon, and particularly by the C60 diffraction experiment. I thus intend to clarify the concept of chemical substance and its relevance in the current philosophical discussion. (shrink)

In this article, from the characterization of technoscience of the English historian J. Pickstone and the recognition of the importance of models and modelling in research and teaching of chemistry, the term technochemistry is introduced as a way of chemical knowledge. With the above new possibilities, rethinking the chemistry curriculum is opened.