Abstract

The study and understanding of Chemistry as we know it to-day emerged from the mists of alchemy towards the end of the 16th and the beginning of the 17th centuries, when Paracelsus introduced a system of experimentation to science and taught for the first time that life was a chemical process and the bodies of men and plants chemical laboratories. Experimental and Inorganic Chemistry grew rapidly, the elements and their compounds were studied and analysed, and great advances in knowledge of the material universe around us were made. But for a long time a hard and fast line was drawn between what we now call Inorganic and Organic Chemistry, and the belief was held that compounds manufactured by the life processes in the bodies of animals and plants could not be made in the laboratory. This theory was held till 1828 when Wöhler synthesised urea in the laboratory and opened up an entirely new field of discovery. This led Liebig in 1840 to turn his attention to agricultural Chemistry and expound views of soil fertility. He tested out his theory on a piece of barren land at Gissen and discovered by actual experiment that by feeding the soil with nothing but mineral fertilizers he could turn it into as fertile a spot as could be found in all Germany. He discovered that plants could manufacture their organic materials from air and water. This pioneer work was followed up by Sir John Lawes, who started the Experiment Station at Rothamsted, in 1834, a station which has become famous all over the world.

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