chemistry

Journal of Natural Philosophy, Chemistry, and the Arts

Journal of Natural Philosophy, Chemistry, and the Arts is a chemistry topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Journal of Natural Philosophy, Chemistry, and the Arts rather than just read about it. In short: A Journal of Natural Philosophy, Chemistry, and the Arts, generally known as Nicholson's Journal, was the first monthly scientific journal in Great Britain. William Nicholson began it in 1797 and was the editor until it merged with another journal in January 1814.

Key takeaways

Journal of Natural Philosophy, Chemistry, and the Arts belongs to chemistry; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Journal of Natural Philosophy, Chemistry, and the Arts to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Journal of Natural Philosophy, Chemistry, and the Arts from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

A Journal of Natural Philosophy, Chemistry, and the Arts, generally known as Nicholson's Journal, was the first monthly scientific journal in Great Britain. William Nicholson began it in 1797 and was the editor until it merged with another journal in January 1814. Nicholson's journal would accept short papers, written by new or anonymous authors, and decide whether to publish them relatively quickly. These attributes distinguished the new journal from the established scientific journal The Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society. By one account this less-formal model was so appealing that the next year (1798) a similar startup launched, Alexander Tilloch's Philosophical Magazine, and in January 1813, a further rival, Thomas Thomson's Annals of Philosophy.

Significant articles Nicholson and Anthony Carlisle split water into hydrogen and oxygen for the first time in 1800 and immediately published their results in the journal. They used Volta's pile (an electric battery) as soon as they learned of it to achieve this electrolysis. Discovery of the element palladium was announced in 1803. The author chose Nicholson's journal in order to remain anonymous at first, and later revealed himself to be William Hyde Wollaston. The journal published the first known aerodynamic analysis of gliders and heavier-than-air fixed-wing flying machines designs, by George Cayley in 1809–1810.

Publishing business By one account, William Nicholson started the journal and made all editorial decisions in a "pioneering and uncertain attempt" to make a living from publishing it. Revenues came only from subscriptions. Tilloch's Philosophical Magazine was more successful as a popular science journal business than Nicholson's journal, according to one source, and another such journal appeared in 1813 (Annals of Philosophy). Possibly partly because of this competition, William Nicholson ended the journal. By some accounts Nicholson's journal simply ceased, and by others it merged in 1814 with the Philosophical Magazine to form The Philosophical Magazine and Journal. The "Advertisement", dated 31 December 1813, at the start of Volume 42 of The Philosophical Magazine. states: "Nearly seventeen years have elapsed since The Philosophical Journal was commenced by Mr. Nicholson, and sixteen since the appearance of the first number of The Philosophical Magazine. [...] [T]he result of [...] deliberations [between the publishers of Nicholson's Philosophical Journal and The Philosophical Magazine in order to respond to readers' complaints regarding duplication of material in the two publications] has been that it would certainly be best that we should unite, and that the joint product of our exertions and our correspondence should be consolidated in one periodical work. [...] The Philosophical Journal will henceforth be discontinued; and The Philosophical Magazine will be conducted by William Nicholson and Alexander Tilloch, in the same manner as it has always been carried on." For the duration of Volume 43 (January to June 1814) the joint publishers of the new merged journal provided duplicate title-pages for each number, ostensibly so that subscribers to Nicholson's Philosophical Magazine might be enabled to "preserve their Series without a chasm." However, despite their intention to continue this scheme of two-fold numeration, they abandoned it at the end of this trial period in June 1814, because of the perceived "confusion and risque of many errors" when referring to future volumes; from July 1814 a single numeration was used, following the numbering of The Philosophical Magazine.

Bibliography and archives Complete journal issues have been scanned and are available online at the Biodiversity Heritage Library and at archive.org thanks to the Natural History Museum Library, London, the New York Public Library and google books.

References

Further reading Lilley, Samuel. 1948. "Nicholson's Journal" (1797–1813) Annals of Science 6:1, 78–101. (first page at Taylor & Francis site)

External links Media related to Journal of Natural Philosophy, Chemistry and the Arts at Wikimedia Commons

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Journal of Natural Philosophy, Chemistry, and the Arts

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Journal of Natural Philosophy, Chemistry, and the Arts claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In chemistry, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Journal of Natural Philosophy, Chemistry, and the Arts before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Journal of Natural Philosophy, Chemistry, and the Arts ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Journal of Natural Philosophy, Chemistry, and the Arts

In research: Journal of Natural Philosophy, Chemistry, and the Arts appears in chemistry research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Journal of Natural Philosophy, Chemistry, and the Arts in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Journal of Natural Philosophy, Chemistry, and the Arts is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1797 establishments in Great Britain, English-language journals, Multidisciplinary scientific journals, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Journal of Natural Philosophy, Chemistry, and the Arts outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

Ask Teacher Smith questions about this articleOpens your AI tutor with a question about “Journal of Natural Philosophy, Chemistry, and the Arts” →

Affiliate

Preply — study more efficiently by working with a personal tutor. 50% off.

How to study Journal of Natural Philosophy, Chemistry, and the Arts in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Journal of Natural Philosophy, Chemistry, and the Arts means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Journal of Natural Philosophy, Chemistry, and the Arts out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Journal of Natural Philosophy, Chemistry, and the Arts in simple terms?

Why does Journal of Natural Philosophy, Chemistry, and the Arts matter?

Because it connects several chemistry ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Journal of Natural Philosophy, Chemistry, and the Arts?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Journal of Natural Philosophy, Chemistry, and the Arts.