Abstract
Chemical formulas, those small icons which chemists are wont to scribble in their notebooks and in odd places, such as the back of an envelope, and which to the general public have become emblems of their profession, are an excellent topic for history. These artefacts remain today tools for communication within the community of chemists. They continue serving as didactic instruments in teaching. The establishment of an individual formula for a chemical compound or a substance chronicles the laboratory methods, both routine and specific, which came into play in order for it to be written down and to assume the status of the analog of a word, to be stored within the growing lexicon of chemistry.
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Laszlo, P. (2001). Conventionalities in Formula Writing. In: Klein, U. (eds) Tools and Modes of Representation in the Laboratory Sciences. Boston Studies in the Philosophy and History of Science, vol 222. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-9737-1_4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-9737-1_4
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