Abstract

The appearance of these two books marks an important step in the arrival of the philosophy of chemistry in the philosophical imagination. Long the missing tooth between the philosophy of physics and the philosophy of biology, the philosophy of chemistry has come into its own only in the last decade. After numerous symposia and conferences, special issues and articles, and even the appearance of two journals devoted specifically to philosophical issues raised by chemistry, the field has lacked the visibility that a book provides. Now there are two—one an anthology and the other a monograph—that both in their own ways help to set the field on firmer footing.