Abstract
THAT Wöhler synthetized urea in 1828 and there by rang the death-knell of vitalism in organic chemistry seems to be as firmly established a legend as that Galileo let fall at one and the same time from the leaning tower at Pisa two unequal weights, the thud of the simultaneous arrival of which upon the ground rang out the old Aristotelianism and rang in the new mechanics. But, as in the earlier, so in the later case, the facts are otherwise: there was no synthesis of urea, and chemists continued to assert the existence of vital force and to describe its role in the formation of organic substances. Wöhler's experiments have, however, acquired an altogether inexplicable and widespread significance, both- in text-books and in popular scientific works, especially among those whose statements show that they cannot possibly have referred to his own account of them.
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References
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MCKIE, D. Wöhler's 'Synthetic' Urea and the Rejection of Vitalism: A Chemical Legend. Nature 153, 608–610 (1944). https://doi.org/10.1038/153608a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/153608a0
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