中文化學符號：1842-1895

張澔

《中華科技史學會學刊》 9期 (2006/01) Pp. 73-87

https://doi.org/10.7094/BAFHS.200601.0073

摘要

本文主要的目的研究西方化學符號在十九世紀中國的傳入。在十九世紀中葉的時候，西方化學符號還是處於很混亂的局面，例如，硫酸的化學式可以表示為S+30，S0^3，或S03。因此，在十九世紀所翻譯的中文化學翻譯書也常常出現化學符號不一致的現象。在中國人沒有英文能力的基礎上，西方化學符號中的字母會被中文字所取代，如表示元素結合能力的符號，是在元素右上角上放置一個符號(')，如O”，B'''，在《化學初階》中則表示為養''和硼'''，或者像《化學鑑原續編》中，如水型(方程式略)則成為(方程式略)。所以，中文化學符號的重要性並非在於如何呈現原文的化學符號，而是在於與這些符號相關的化學名詞的翻譯與解釋。

並列摘要

The main purpose of this paper is to research the transformation of the Western chemical symbols in the nineteenth-century China. Many of the chemical symbols in the mid-nineteenth century were not standardized. Sulphuric acid, for example, could be represented as S+3O, SO3, or SO3. Therefore, the different expressions for the same substance also appeared in the different Chinese chemical books at the same time. Sometimes, the letters for chemical marks were replaced by Chinese characters. For example, the equivalency of an element were denoted by placing marks to the right of the symbol of an element, such as O”, B”', and they were designated in Chinese as 養”, 硼”' in Huaxue jianyuan (First Step in Chemistry). In principle, the chemical notations in the original chemical books were not used in Chinese chemical works at that time.

並列關鍵字

chemical symbol ； terminology ； China

參考文獻

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顧爾鏗 ， ＜化學符號之演進＞ ，《化學》， 4.1(1937): 63-78. 原稿譯 “Scientific monthly, 40.3(1935):199-217.

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Joseph Needham, Ho Ping-Yü and Lu Gwei-Djen, Science and Civilisation in China: Chemistry and Chemical Technology, vol. 5, Cambridge University Press, 1976, 252-54.