ABSTRACT
At first glance, the title of Dr Rachel Laudan's book might seem to echo the “From A to Z” formula much adhered to by an earlier generation of historians of science. In this case, however, the “From. To. ” points to a problem of great importance and continuing interest in the history of science, namely the question of the origins of any new or reconstituted discipline or specialised area of scientific study. Dr Laudan's case for the greater importance of the chemical approach is given some support, however, by her interpretation of eighteenth-century work. In a rare gesture towards the institutional history of science, she points to the economic basis for the growing state support for mineral science, particularly in the foundation of schools of mines in several parts of Europe in the later eighteenth century.
