Introduction to Spectroscopy

With the exception of pH measurement, each of these techniques is spectroscopic in nature. Spectroscopic instruments are among the most versatile and widely-used tools in a chemistry, able to probe almost every molecular and atomic phenomena. Follow the link for a description of the basic theory and history of spectroscopic measurements.

Why "The Second Chemical Revolution?"

The first chemical revolution took place with the work of Lavoisier and Berzelius. These men worked to make the obscure art of chemistry accessible to common people by greatly simplifying nomenclature and notation. The result was a huge influx of interest and talent into chemistry that has generated much of the technical advances we enjoy today. The introduction of the instruments on this site has had a similar effect on contemporary chemistry, advancing the field through instrumentation.

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"Nothing tends so much to the advancement of knowledge as the application of a new instrument. The native intellectual powers of men in different times are not so much the causes of the different success of their labours as the peculiar nature of the means and artificial resources in their possession."

-Sir Humphry Davy, exponent of the scientific method; discoverer of sodium and potassium.