Perkins John
Centre for Health, Medicine and Society, Oxford Brookes University, UK.
Ambix. 2010 Mar;57(1):27-47. doi: 10.1179/174582310X12629173849926.
The last two decades of the ancien régime saw a rapid growth in the number of chemistry courses being offered in Paris. These courses were central to the continuing popularisation of chemistry, but they played an equally important role in the development of a large and dynamic community of chemical practitioners in Paris. They indicate that this community was undergoing major changes: rapid growth that challenged the position and authority of the Académie; expanding opportunities for making a career in and around the teaching of chemistry; new ways of organising research; a change in the relationship between pharmacy and chemistry; and the emergence of new forms of scientific sociability. These developments pre-date the chemical and political revolutions, and provide the context for a broader understanding of both the Chemical Revolution and the politically contested history of chemistry during the Revolution and Empire.
旧制度的最后二十年里，巴黎开设的化学课程数量迅速增长。这些课程对于化学的持续普及至关重要，但它们在巴黎庞大且活跃的化学从业者群体的发展中也发挥了同样重要的作用。它们表明这个群体正在经历重大变革：快速增长挑战了科学院的地位和权威；在化学教学及其周边领域获得职业发展的机会不断增加；组织研究的新方式；药学与化学之间关系的变化；以及新形式科学社交活动的出现。这些发展早于化学革命和政治革命，并为更广泛地理解化学革命以及革命和帝国时期政治上备受争议的化学史提供了背景。
