The editors wish to thank the European Science Foundation for its
support of the programme on the Evolution of Chemistry in Europe,
1789-1939, as well as for sponsoring the publication of this volume.
Through the subdivision of this initiative that deals specifically with
chemical industry it has been possible for historians of science,
technology, business and economics to share often widely differing
viewpoints and develop consensus across disciplinary and cultural
boundaries. The contents of this volume are based on the third of three
workshops that have considered the emergence of the modern European
chemical industry prior to 1939, the first held in Liege (1994), the
second in Maastricht (1995), and the third in Strasbourg (1996). All
contributors and participants are thanked for their participation in
often lively and informative debates. The generous hospitality of the
European Science Foundation and its staff in Strasbourg is gratefully
acknowledged. Introduction Emerging chemical knowledge and the
development of chemical industry, and particularly the interaction
between them, offer rich fields of study for the historian. This is
reflected in the contents of the three workshops dealing with the
emergence of chemical industry held under the aegis of the European
Science Foundation's Evolution of Chemistry in Europe, 1789-1939,
programme. The first workshop focused mainly on science for industry,
1789- 1850, and the second on the two-way traffic between science and
industry, 1850-1914. The third workshop, dealing with the period
1900-1939, covers similar issues, but within different, and wider,
contexts.