Abstract
Western nations in Europe or in the Americas during the second half of the nineteenth century, whether rising or established, were what historian Benedict Anderson termed as “imagined communities.” Even though members of a nation will never meet one another, their beliefs, attitudes, and sentiments are similar. Paradoxes abound though.
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Notes
- 1.
Nationalism spread after the political revolutions of the eighteenth century that began in America and France. After Napoleon’s defeat in 1815, fervor spread throughout Latin and South America, and influenced the European revolutions of 1848. With the unification of Germany, Italy, and Japan around 1870, nationalism influenced older empires such as China in 1911 and Turkey in 1920. Nationalism also influenced former colonial possessions from India to Kenya, and helped to dissolve the Eastern Bloc countries of the former Soviet Union. It was a truly a global set of events that to this day continue to divide and unite nations as they grapple with issues that range from the use of environmental resources, immigrant migration, usurpation of democracy, and even to who will host the Olympic Games. For a primer on this subject see: Marks [13].
- 2.
Warfare did occur on the continent when it came to the formation of a modern Germany, and in the United States. Under Otto von Bismarck and Kaiser Wilhelm I, they fought a series of conflicts that were quite successful against Denmark, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and France, which led to unification after 1870. The Crimean War of the 1850s was also one of the other major events that challenged the European Alliance system. The other major event in America concerned their Civil War, and there were flash conflicts around the world that pitted the colonial powers against one another.
- 3.
European nations, like Britain, France, Germany, and Russia, were part of a new generation that vied for colonial power after 1850. Britain, especially with its development of its colony in India, was a key example of using the population to develop new customers. The British restricted production of local cloth in order sublimate competition. Of course, the Gandhi-led movement of the 1930s and 40s successful destroyed the notion of British rule by establishing a free and independent India in 1947. For a broad-sweeping study on this subject see: Bobbitt [14].
- 4.
Both Britain and Germany possessed huge deposits of coal in their respective backyards. This is what allowed Britain to sprint ahead in industrial production, however, by 1900 Germany was right on pace to pass them at the dawn of the new century. See: Stearns [15].
- 5.
Hermann Kolbe (1818–1884) was the senior editor of a series of papers in the Journal fur Praktische Chemie, which became some of the most important foundations for organic chemistry. His sharp wit and conservative interpretations fueled several feuds with colleagues that led to his professional demise.
- 6.
The Franco-Prussian War (1870) was a seminal event for the future of a united Germany—a second Reich. Otto von Bismarck used this opportunity to put military precision on display, and evaporate the chance of a two-front war with France’s long-time ally, Russia. The German army decimated its opponent and obtained the territorial rights to Alsace-Lorraine; a year later they were unified as one country.
- 7.
Justus von Liebig (1803–1873) was the son of a pharmaceutical and chemical dealer. He was apprenticed to an apothecary, which before 1820 were inextricably linked to the study of chemistry. Dissatisfied under this tutelage he moved to Paris to study under the chemist, Joseph Gay-Lussac. With the help of Alexander von Humboldt he joined the faculty at the University of Giessen, where he remained until he received the chair in chemistry at the University of Munich in 1852.
- 8.
This fume cupboard was the precursor to today’s fume hood for drawing out noxious fumes.
- 9.
It is not uncommon to find modern laboratories more than ten times the size of the Giessen laboratory.
- 10.
This “hatch” appears to have served rather like a butler’s pantry would have just off the dining room in a house of some means; a veritable portal in which Liebig could monitor the activities in his lab.
- 11.
Friedrich Bayer (1825–1880) founded the aspirin company that bears his name by attracting energetic young men that were part of the new partnership between universities and industry.
- 12.
Carl Duisberg (1861–1935) grasped the mission that Friedrich Bayer envisioned. Like most Prussians, who took part in university training and in military service, Duisberg combined savvy business sense with chemistry to be the organizing force behind Bayer at the turn-of-the-century. After taking a trip to America, he was greatly influenced by the design of vertical integration (two or more stages of production under one company) when he toured Standard Oil. For over four decades he presided over Bayer until it was assumed into the conglomerate I.G. Farben in the 1930s. For a thorough treatment of Duisberg’s career see the German article: Stock [16].
- 13.
Concerned that other German dye firms would begin to develop antipyretics, Duisberg had the idea of converting a waste product into a synthetic drug for pain relief called phenacetin in 1888. It became a staple in pharmacies for over it 90 years until it was pulled from production due to long-term damage of the kidneys.
- 14.
Precursors of aspirin, such as willow bark, have been around for centuries, and the drug was mentioned in archives by the Egyptians, the Greeks, and referenced most notably in a paper written by clergyman Edward Stone (1702–1768) in 1763. Stone had discovered that by grinding up the bark of the white willow tree and giving it to people who were suffering from malaria, their aches and pains would subside and their fever would become reduced. The antipyretic (fever-reducer), analgesic (pain-reliever), and anti-inflammatory compound found in willow bark is salicin. The name comes from German chemists who isolated the active ingredient from the white willow bark tree, Salix Alba in 1828. For a more thorough treatment of aspirin’s early developments see: Jack [17] and Stone [18].
- 15.
Charles Gerhardt (1816–1856) was one of the most influential French chemists of his generation, and probably would have taken issue with the assertions made by his countryman, Adolphe Wurtz. Especially, since he believed fervently in collaboration with colleagues both in England and on the continent.
- 16.
Felix Hoffman (1868–1946) worked for Bayer as the head of pharmaceutical sales until his retirement in 1928. The creation story behind Hoffmann’s synthesis was disputed during the 1990s when evidence came to light that another researcher named Arthur Eichengrun (1867–1949), who worked at Bayer at the same time, was actually the one who synthesized aspirin. Due to his Jewish heritage, it was believed that the Nazis deleted him from the record. Bayer AG officially denied such allegations, and to this day continues to support Felix Hoffmann and his place in its history as the chemist that created modern aspirin. See: Sneader [19].
- 17.
For a more thorough treatment of the word aspirin and its origins see: Weissmann [20].
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Rooney, S.M., Campbell, J.N. (2017). Aspirin and the Chemistry Laboratory. In: How Aspirin Entered Our Medicine Cabinet. SpringerBriefs in Molecular Science(). Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-54615-5_2
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