Oxford history of chemistry seminar series to be held in Oxford on 9 and 23 February 2011 (360G-Wellcome-095925_Z_11_Z)

Intellectual historians can hardly disregard the role played by alchemical practices (experiments, theories, circulation of books and manuscripts, constitution of networks covering the entire European continent and several early colonial settlements) in the agenda of Early Modern learning. Equally, studies published over the last twenty years have much contributed to the appreciation of the role of chemistry in the constitution of research practices in science, technology and medicine, and to the key social and intellectual role played by practitioners of chemistry during the XVIII and XIX centuries. Finally, business historians or historians of innovation (including therapeutic innovation) can hardly escape confronting the complex interactions between university and industrial research on a continental and intercontinental level throughout the XX century. The main goal of the Oxford History of Chemistry Seminar series, which is in its 4th year this year, has been to assert the centrality of the history of chemistry to a variety of research areas dealing with the social, intellectual and economic history of Europe (and beyond) over the last five centuries.