The stories behind the words Simon Rees reveals the origins of some chemical terms and what they can mean for students

摘要

On a cold, damp evening during the Christmas season of 1860, an expectant crowd gathers in the gas-lit gloom outside the Royal Institution in London. They shuffle into the steep banked seating of the auditorium and an excited hush descends as Michael Faraday enters and begins the first of his six lectures on the chemical history of a candle. As he commences his exploration and ignites the audience's curiosity, he remarks: 'But how does the flame get hold of the fuel? There is a beautiful point about that - capillary attraction. "Capillary attraction!" you say - "the attraction of hairs." Well, never mind the name; it was given in old times, before we had a good understanding of what the real power was.~'1