A Primary Study On The Trends Of Contemporary International Philosophyof Chemistry Development

Hyle:International Journal for Philosophy of Chemistry (since 1995, launched in Germany) and Found Chem (since 1999, launched in USA) are the international journals dedicated to philosophy of chemistry. Papers published in the two journals are creativity and influential, that embody a concentrated reflection of the research achievements and trends of philosophy of chemistry and make great significance for the development of philosophy of chemistry. Based on scientometrics and literature analysis, this paper calculates and analyzes the contents in Hyle and Found Chem, and conducts a systematic and comprehensive discussion on the hot points and trends of contemporary international philosophy of chemistry development.The paper includes Introduction, Three chapters of systematic elaboration, Conclusion and Appendix.Introduction introduces the aim and significance of the topic, literature review, research thoughts and methods, the difficulties, innovations and deficiencies.The chapter one, the metrically analyzing the contents in Hyle, introduces the basic information, general description of papers published and the metrical annlysis of the themes, the key words, the original nations of articles and book reviews from Volume3,1997 to Volume 19,2013. Through the comparative analysis and corroboration of the metrical results in articles and book reviews, this chapter reveals the hot points and trends of contemporary international philosophy of chemistry development.The chapter two, the metrically analyzing the contents in Found Chem, introduces the basic information, general description of papers published and the metrical annlysis of the themes, the key words, the original nations of articles and book reviews from Volume 1,1999 to Volume 15,2013. Through the comparative analysis and corroboration of the metrical results in articles and book reviews, this chapter reveals the hot points and trends of contemporary international philosophy of chemistry development.The chapter three, the trends of contemporary international philosophy of chemistry development, includes the comparative analysis and corroboration of the metrical results in Hyle and Found Chem and theoretical analysis of the hot points and trends of contemporary international philosophy of chemistry development.On the basis of the above analysis, the paper comes to the conclusion as follows:(1) Because of the establishment of philosophy of chemistry, the study of the development and autonomy in chemistry which was a hot topic from 1990s to early 21st century will be reduced. The historical and philosophical analysis of the fundamental concepts, theories and methods are the main topics, the periodic system of elements, quantum theory and models in theoretical chemistry in particular. (2) As scientific activities increasingly transcend disciplinary boundaries towards problem-orientated research, the philosophical and historical questions regarding mathematical chemistry, chemical aesthetics and nanotechnology have deserved more attention. (3) The public image of chemistry and chemists, ethics of chemistry and chemical education have been taken seriously by chemists and philosophers of chemistry. (4) America, Germany and Britain are international active centers for research of philosophy of chemistry.Philosophy of chemistry has transcended basis research towards inter-disciplinary research and the interactive fields of chemisty and society.Conclusion summarizes each chapter and emphasizes on further study of philosophy of chemistry.Appendix includes the statistics of articles and book reviews in Hyle and Found Chem.