Learning by the Journal: The Leading Role of Specialist Periodicals in the Communication of Structural Formulae in 1860s Germany

Ubiquitous in chemistry today, structural formulae constitute one of the cornerstones of modern chemistry. Yet the early history of the formulae is still poorly understood. The standard account displays a strong national bias toward Britain because existing studies focus predominantly on British chemical education, but pay little attention to the circulation of the diagrams in other countries. This paper aims to overcome that bias by analysing the communication practices that drove the proliferation and appropriation of structural formulae in 1860s Germany. In this paper, I contend that German chemistry students used periodicals as learning resources alongside other forms of printed matter to familiarise themselves with structural formulae. In order to study these processes, the paper employs an innovative approach that integrates the history of chemistry with the history of education and print culture. Following this approach, I show that only a small number of suitable textbooks were available on the German print market during the 1860s, and that in many cases, they were also not available from academic libraries. In contrast, library regulations allowed German students to access periodicals with considerable ease to become familiar with the new formulae. By offering this account, the paper makes an important contribution to overcoming the Anglocentric historiography of the modern chemical formulae. The German context demonstrates the neglected role of periodicals in science education, and by acknowledging it, this paper offers new and exciting insights into the processes that led to the establishment of structural formulae as the default notation of organic chemistry.