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Two Conceptions of the Chemical Bond

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2022

Robin Findlay Hendry
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Abstract

In this article I sketch G. N. Lewis's views on chemical bonding and Linus Pauling's attempt to preserve Lewis's insights within a quantum-mechanical theory of the bond. I then set out two broad conceptions of the chemical bond, the structural and the energetic views, which differ on the extent in which they preserve anything like the classical chemical bond in the modern quantum-mechanical understanding of molecular structure.

Type
Chemical Bonds
Information
Philosophy of Science , Volume 75 , Issue 5: Proceedings of the 2006 Biennial Meeting of the Philosophy of Science Association. Part II: Symposia Papers. Edited by Cristina Bicchieri and Jason Alexander , December 2008 , pp. 909 - 920
Copyright
Copyright © The Philosophy of Science Association

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Footnotes

‡

I would like to thank Paul Needham, Janet Stemwedel, and Michael Weisberg for extensive discussions on the topic of this article. I am also grateful to the British Academy for funding my travel to the PSA meeting.

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