Etudes de dynamique chimique
Amsterdam, Frederik Müller & C°, 1884.
Grand in-8 de (4), IV, 215, (1) pages ; demi-chagrin de l’époque, dos à nerfs. Item #4446
Première édition de cet ouvrage fondateur de l'histoire de la chimie, pour lequel Van 't Hoff se vit décerner le prix Nobel en 1901.
“In 1884 his book Études de dynamique chimique (Studies in dynamic chemistry) appeared, in which he entered for the first time the field of physical chemistry. Of great importance was his development of the general thermodynamic relationship between the heat of conversion and the displacement of the equilibrium as a result of temperature variation. At constant volume, the equilibrium in a system will tend to shift in such a direction as to oppose the temperature change which is imposed upon the system. Thus, lowering the temperature results in heat development while increasing the temperature results in heat absorption. This principle of mobile equilibrium was subsequently (1885) put in a general form by Le Chatelier, who extended the principle to include compensation, by change of volume, for imposed pressure changes – it is now known as the van ’t Hoff-Le Chatelier principle.” (Jacobus H. van ’t Hoff – sur le site du Prix Nobel).
“In 1884 he published the innovative book Études de dynamique chimique, in which he used the principles of thermodynamics to provide a mathematical model for the rates of chemical reactions based on the changes in the concentration of reactants with time. In the Études, van ’t Hoff showed how the previously independently developed concepts of dynamic equilibrium (that chemical equilibrium results when the rates of forward and reverse reactions are equal), the law of mass action (that the concentration of substances affects the rate of reaction), and the equilibrium constant (the ratio of the concentrations of starting materials to products at equilibrium) together formed a coherent model for understanding the nature of chemical reactions. Finally, he showed mathematically how temperature, pressure, and mass affected the rate of chemical reactions and how the heat generated by a reaction could be calculated from the mathematical equation governing the final equilibrium state. This relationship between heats of reaction and equilibrium allowed van’t Hoff to define chemical ‘affinity’, an old concept in the history of chemistry that had been difficult to define in terms of its effects, specifically the amount of work that a reversible chemical reaction could perform.” (Britannica)
Artington IV, pp. 658-60 ; Norman 2129.
Price: €1,000.00