Scerri, Eric (2025) What is an element, and how is it defined in the IUPAC Gold Book? [Preprint]

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Abstract

This article concerns the IUPAC definition of the concept of an element. Before taking up the current definition in order to suggest an amendment, I will provide a very brief historical review of how our understanding of this central concept in chemistry has developed [1].
I briefly trace the development of the understanding of the term "element' according to the pre-Socratic philosophers, Lavoisier, Mendeleev, Paneth, and finally the definition in the current IUPAC Gold Book. I suggest that the Gold Book definition is both confusing and inconsistent with Paneth's understanding of an element as an abstract entity in addition to the usual sense of an element as something that can be isolated.

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Item Type:	Preprint
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID Scerri, Eric scerri@chem.ucla.edu 0000-0001-9775-5829
Keywords:	element, Lavoisier, Mendeleev, Paneth, IUPAC Gold Book
Subjects:	Specific Sciences > Chemistry General Issues > History of Philosophy of Science General Issues > Natural Kinds General Issues > Science Education
Depositing User:	Eric Scerri
Date Deposited:	03 Oct 2025 10:56
Last Modified:	03 Oct 2025 10:56
Item ID:	26821
Subjects:	Specific Sciences > Chemistry General Issues > History of Philosophy of Science General Issues > Natural Kinds General Issues > Science Education
Date:	October 2025
URI:	https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/26821

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