化学原子论和分子学说在清末民初的传播

The Introduction of Chemical Atomism and Molecular Theory into Late 19th and Early 20th Century China

考察化学原子论和分子学说在清末民初的传播可知:在 1868年至1898年期间,中文的化学著作中只介绍了化学原子论,直到 19世纪末年,才开始介绍分子学说;进入 20世纪后,大批中国学生出国留学,把新的化学知识传入中国,原子 分子学说也随之广泛传播开来。这一传播过程从一个侧面反映了近代化学在清末民初从被动接受知识到主动获取知识的发展状况。

Through examining and analyzing the introduction of atomic-molecular theory into China,this paper deals with the fact that between 1868 and 1898,only chemical atomism was introduced in Chinese chemistry books,and that molecular theory was not introduced until the end of 19th century.Why?The reason the paper gives is that in the 19th century,all Chinese chemical books were translated and published with the help of missionaries who only knew little about science and the original editions from which the Chinese chemical books were translated were all outdated in the West.After entering the 20th century,many Chinese chemistry pioneers went abroad to learn new knowledge for carrying out their dreams of “Saving the Country Through Science”.They changed the passive state of introducing chemical knowledge into China in the 19th century and introduced the atomic-molecular theory widely into China.What they had done accelerated the development of China's modern chemistry.As for the translated terms of “atom” and “molecule”,the so-called “Wei Dian(微点)”,“Zhi Dian(质点)”,“Yuan Dian(元点)”,“He Dian(合点)”and the like which were easy to be confused,they had been disused gradually and the uniform translated terms,“Yuan Zi(原子)”and “Fen Zi(分子)”,they had been used widely under the influence of their counterparts in Japan.In addition,the contents of the atomic-molecular theory had evolved along with the introduction of the new atomic structure theory.As a result,the above-mentioned process of introducing atomic-molecular theory partly reflects the development of modern chemistry in China.