Technikatörténeti szemle 22. (1996)

Papers from the Second International Conference on the History of Chemistry and Chemical Industry (Eger, Hungary, 16–19 August, 1995) - Inczédy, János: Science and Information

the instrumental techniques listed above were taken as follows: Bragg 1915, Tiselius 1948, More and Stein 1972 (discovery in 1950), Sanger 1958, resp. Today, the need of chemical information is not restricted to chemical laboratories or to chemical factories. The chemical information became indispensable almost in all fields of human activities in research, development, in production and in service as well. E.g. in space research, or in archeology, or in medical, in environmental praxis and investigations. The conclusions are as follows: (1) The limits of our knowledge depend on the diversity, power, resolution, speed and reliability of the available instruments and measurement techniques. Those objects or phenomena, which are behind the limits of the instrument specifications are inaccessible and unknowable to us. We do not know anything on their existence at all. (2) In all those works in which the operation of a natural or artificial system is controlled a well synchronised network of instruments is necessary to give the proper information flux in space and time continuously or periodically. The resolution, the working speed, the precision of the instruments are the limiting factors at the quality control of the dynamic system. (3) The modern instruments, with high performance characteristics have been expanded the human knowledge concerning the objects, events, processes in living as well as in non-living system of the world. In some cases keen fightings emerge for the acquisition of certain instruments, because the possession of a new unique instrument may ensure an admission to such region of the scientific world, which is inaccessible to the other ordinary people. (4) The need of the information concerning chemical properties (composition, structure, distribution etc.) was drastically increased recently. The turnover of the production of the chemical analytical instruments in the world mounts up more than 50% of that of all instruments. Literature J. Inczédy: Instruments for obtaining information (in Hungarian) Magy. Kém. Lapja 49. 45 (1994) J. Inczédy: Chemical analysis of processes, dynamic systems (in Hungarian) Magy. Kém. Folyóirat 100. 373 (1994) J. Inczédy: The place and role of chemical analysis in process control. Fr. J. Anal. Chem. 343. 849. (1992)