In the early nineteenth century, chemistry emerged in Europe as a truly experimental discipline. What set this process in motion, and how did it evolve? Experimentalization in chemistry was driven by a seemingly innocuous tool: the sign system of chemical formulas invented by the Swedish chemist Jacob Berzelius. By tracing the history of this "paper tool," the author reveals how chemistry quickly lost its orientation to natural history and became a major productive force in industrial society. These formulas were not merely a convenient shorthand, but productive tools for creating order amid the chaos of early nineteenth-century organic chemistry. With these formulas, chemists could create a multifaceted world on paper, which they then correlated with experiments and the traces produced in test tubes and flasks. The author's semiotic approach to the formulas allows her to show in detail how their particular semantic and representational qualities made them especially useful as paper tools for productive application.

Table of Contents:
Preface Introduction 1. The Semiotics of Berzelian Chemical Formulas The Various Meanings of Berzelian Formulas Image and Language: The Syntax of Berzelian Formulas 2. Two Cultures of Organic Chemistry in the Nineteenth Century: A Structural Comparison The Area of Research Objects in Early Nineteenth-Century Plant and Animal Chemistry Plant and Animal Substances: A Cross between Natural History and Chemistry The Classification of Plant and Animal Substances "Nature" and "Art" in the Experimental Practice of Plant and Animal Chemistry The Experimental Culture of Organic Chemistry after 1840 The Two Forms of Organic Chemistry Compared 3. Experiments on the Periphery of Plant Chemistry Ether Production and Commercial Pharmacy Interpretive Models of the Formation of Ordinary Ether around 1800 Quantitative Approaches in the Study of Organic Reactions Simplified Quantitative Experiments The Manufacture of an Artificial Oil in the Chemical Laboratory New Attempts to Balance the Masses of Reacting Substances The Overthrow of the Accepted Interpretive Model of the Formation of Ordinary Ether 4. Paper Tools for the Construction of Interpretive Models of Chemical Reactions The Historical Problem Modeling Separate Reaction Pathways The Performative Function of Berzelian Formulas 5. Paper Tools for the Classification of Organic Substances The Structure and Function of Dumas and Boullay's Table Experimentation and the Construction of Formula Models for the "Compounds of Bicarbonated Hydrogen" The Enlargement of Substance Classes by the Construction of Further Formula Models Manipulations of Formulas and Their Significance Reception of the New Classification among European Chemists 6. Paper Tools for Modeling the Constitution of Organic Compounds The Shared Conceptual Preconditions for the Models of Constitution Models of Constitution Prior to 1833 The Controversy 7. The Dialectic of Tools and Goals A Performative Account of Conceptual Development The Creation of Mutual Adjustments and Its Reflection in the New Mode of Justification 8. The Historical Transformation Process Model Objects and Unintended Paradigmatic Achievements The Structural Transformation 9. Paper Tools Filling in the Gaps of Inscription Devices Chains of Inscriptions and Paper Tools Notes Literature Cited Index