Dresden China is a popular term for a delicate, semi-transparent, highly-finished porcelain made around the Dresden area of Germany. The term is variously used, being applied to porcelain made at Meissen, Sitzendorf and Volkstedt. The chief characteristics of 'Dresden China' is the elaborate designs and delicate colouring. Thus frequently Dresden china is found in the form of exquisite porcelain figurines.
The manufacture resulted from an accidentaldiscovery made by Bottger, a young chemist, in 1710, and the vases, statuettes, groups of figures, candelabra, clocks, etc, manufactured during the 18th century are highly prized. They are more remarkable for excellence of execution than for purity of design. Research Dresden China
Eau de Cologne is a perfume said to have been invented by the Italian chemist, Johann Maria Farina, who settled at Cologne in 1709. The original recipe is unknown, though several chemists in Cologne have long claimed to be the sole owners of it. The general principle of Eau de Cologne is alcoholic vegetable extracts, essential oils and rectified spirits. The usual recipe prescribes twelve drops of each of the essential oils, bergamot, citron, neroli, orange and rosemary, with one dram of Malabar cardamoms and a gallon of rectified spirits which are distilled together. Later recipes used highly purified spirits and made further distillation unnecessary. Research Eau de Cologne
Metaphysics (from Greek, 'the things after the physics', from the ordering of Aristotle's works), is the branch of philosophy which studies the most general categories and concepts which are presupposed in descriptions of ourselves and the world. Examples are causality, substance, ontology, time, and reality. Metaphysical questions have a very broad scope. Whereas the physical scientist might ask 'How does x cause y?', the metaphysician asks ' What does it mean for anything to cause anything else?' Whereas the chemist might investigate particular substances, the metaphysician asks what it means to be a substance, and whether there is one basic substance, or many. Metaphysical questions can become the subject of more specialised philosophical inquiry. We can ask whether our actions are subject to causality, which gives rise to the problem of free will. And the question of whether our mental experiences involve a separate substance from body is a major issue in the philosophy of mind.
Although metaphysics dates back to the ancient Greeks, there have been occasions on which its status as a legitimate inquiry have been questioned. The rise of science in the 17th century led to attempts by philosophers such as Hume and Locke to limit the claims of metaphysics, and earlier this century scientifically minded philosophers such as the logical positivists claimed that metaphysical assertions were meaningless. Research Metaphysics
Safety matches are matches which can not be ignited by friction alone. In 1847 the Austrian chemist Schrotter discovered that red phosphorus gives off no fumes and is virtually inert; but being mixed with chlorate of potash under slight pressure explodes. In 1855 Bottger of Sweden put red phosphorus on the match box, and on the matches so that the matches could be ignited by rubbing or striking the match against the box, thus forming the forerunner of the modern safety match. Research Safety Matches
The X Club was a private British dining club of scientists which met from 1864 to 1892. The X Club was comprised of Joseph Hooker the botanist; T H Huxley a biologist; John Tyndall, a physicist; John Lubbock, a banker, ethnologist, and entomologist; William Spottiswoode, the Queen's Printer and an amateur mathematician; Edward Frankland, a chemist; George Busk, a retired surgeon, comparative anatomist, and microscopist; T A Hirst, a mathematician; and HerbertSpencer, a sociologist and philosopher of evolution. Research X Club
Antoine Francis de Fourcroy was a French chemist. He was born in 1755 and died in 1809. Having adopted the profession of medicine he applied himself closely to the sciences connected with it, and especially to chemistry. In 1784 he was made professor of chemistry at the Jardin du Roi; and the next year he was chosen a member of the Academy of Sciences. At this period he became associated with Lavoisier, Guyton-Morveau, and Berthollet in researches which led to vast improvements and discoveries in chemistry. When the French Revolution took place he was chosen a deputy from Paris to the national convention, but did not take his seat in that assembly until after the fall of Robespierre. In September, 1794, he became a member of the committee of public safety. In December, 1799, Bonaparte gave him a place in the council of state, in the section of the interior, in which place he drew up a plan for a system of public instruction, which, with some alteration, was adopted. Research Antoine de Fourcroy
Charles Macintosh was a Scottish chemist. He was born in 1766 and died in 1843. While trying to utilise the coal-naptha given off in distilling tar, he discovered a process of dissolving India-rubber and waterproofing cloth. He patented the invention in 1823, and the Mackintosh was created. Research Charles Macintosh
A chemist is a person engaged in the pursuit of any branch of pure or applied chemistry, e.g. an organic chemist, physical chemist, analytical chemist, tanning chemist, dyeworks chemist, etc. The name is often given also to pharmacists or pharmaceutical chemists, who keep retail shops for the sale of drugs. Research Chemist
The Probert Encyclopaedia was designed, edited and programed by
Matt and Leela Probert
Abbreviations
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