Robert Schombs Jr., Department of Science & Technology Studies, Cornell University, 306 Rockefeller Hall, Ithaca, NY 14853

In 1857-58, August Kekulé proposed the theory of atomicity, or atomic valence, and leveraged this theoretical resource into a theory of chemical structure. The articulation of chemical structure opened up new vistas for experimental investigation and instigated the explosion in organic chemical research in the second half of the 19th century. Linked with the theoretical development of structure was the codification of a system by which the practicing chemist could draw the chemical structure of compounds on paper, both for heuristic and explanatory use. A number of fundamental questions arise from the development of the conventions of structure drawing (1850-1870): In what way was the representation of compounds on paper a ‘revolution'? In what ways was it continuous with other representational practices? How did the deployment of this new “paper tool” affect experimental practice and theory construction? This talk will be an introduction to some of these issues.