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قراءة كتاب History of Phosphorus
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Transcriber’s Notes
This is Paper 40 from the Smithsonian Institution United States National Museum Bulletin 240, comprising Papers 34-44, which will also be available as a complete e-book.
The front material, introduction and relevant index entries from the Bulletin are included in each single-paper e-book.
Corrections to typographical errors are underlined like this. Mouse over to view the original text.
SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION
UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
BULLETIN 240
SMITHSONIAN PRESS
MUSEUM OF HISTORY AND TECHNOLOGY
Contributions
From the
Museum
of History and
Technology
Papers 34-44
On Science and Technology
SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION · WASHINGTON, D.C. 1966
Publications of the United States National Museum
The scholarly and scientific publications of the United States National Museum include two series, Proceedings of the United States National Museum and United States National Museum Bulletin.
In these series, the Museum publishes original articles and monographs dealing with the collections and work of its constituent museums—The Museum of Natural History and the Museum of History and Technology—setting forth newly acquired facts in the fields of anthropology, biology, history, geology, and technology. Copies of each publication are distributed to libraries, to cultural and scientific organizations, and to specialists and others interested in the different subjects.
The Proceedings, begun in 1878, are intended for the publication, in separate form, of shorter papers from the Museum of Natural History. These are gathered in volumes, octavo in size, with the publication date of each paper recorded in the table of contents of the volume.
In the Bulletin series, the first of which was issued in 1875, appear longer, separate publications consisting of monographs (occasionally in several parts) and volumes in which are collected works on related subjects. Bulletins are either octavo or quarto in size, depending on the needs of the presentation. Since 1902 papers relating to the botanical collections of the Museum of Natural History have been published in the Bulletin series under the heading Contributions from the United States National Herbarium, and since 1959, in Bulletins titled “Contributions from the Museum of History and Technology,” have been gathered shorter papers relating to the collections and research of that Museum.
The present collection of Contributions, Papers 34-44, comprises Bulletin 240. Each of these papers has been previously published in separate form. The year of publication is shown on the last page of each paper.
Frank A. Taylor
Director, United States National Museum
Contributions from
The Museum of History and Technology:
Paper 40
History of Phosphorus
Eduard Farber
THE ELEMENT FROM ANIMALS AND PLANTS 178
EARLY USES 181
CHEMICAL CONSTITUTION OF PHOSPHORIC ACIDS 182
PHOSPHATES AS PLANT NUTRIENTS 185
FROM INORGANIC TO ORGANIC PHOSPHATES 187
PHOSPHATIDES AND PHOSPHAGENS 189
NUCLEIN AND NUCLEIC ACIDS 192
PHOSPHATES IN BIOLOGICAL PROCESSES 197
MEDICINES AND POISONS 198
Eduard Farber
HISTORY OF PHOSPHORUS
The “cold light” produced by phosphorus caused it to be considered a miraculous chemical for a long time after its discovery, about 1669. During the intervening three centuries numerous other chemical miracles have been found, yet phosphorus retains a special aura of universal importance in chemistry. Many investigators have occupied themselves with this element and its diverse chemical compounds. Further enlightenment and insight into the ways of nature can be expected from these efforts.
Not only is the story of phosphorus a major drama in the history of chemistry; it also illustrates, in a spectacular example, the growth of this science through the discovery of connections between apparently unrelated phenomena, and the continuous interplay between basic science and the search for practical usage.
The Author: Eduard Farber is a research professor at American University, Washington, D.C., and has been associated with the Smithsonian Institution as a consultant in chemistry.
When phosphorus was discovered, nearly three centuries ago, it was considered a miraculous thing. The only event that provoked a similar emotion was the discovery of radium more than two centuries later. The excitement about the Phosphorus igneus, Boyle’s Icy Noctiluca, was slowly replaced by, or converted into, chemical research. Yet, if we would allow room for emotion in research, we could still be excited about the wondrous substance that chemical and biological work continues to reveal as vitally important. It is a fundamental plant nutrient, an essential part in nerve and brain substance, a decisive factor in muscle action and cell growth, and also a component in fast-acting, powerful poisons. The importance of phosphorus was gradually recognized and the means by which this took place are characteristic and similar to other developments