•  32
    This monograph deals with the interrelationship between chemistry and physics, and especially the role played by quantum chemistry as a theory in between these two disciplines. The author uses structuralist approach to explore the overlap between the two sciences, looking at their theoretical and ontological borrowings as well as their continuity. The starting point of this book is that there is at least a form of unity between chemistry and physics, where the reduction relation is conceived as …Read more
  •  116
    Is quantum chemistry a degenerating research programme?
    Logic and Philosophy of Science 6 (1): 3-23. 2007.
    This note is intended to address one particular issue in the relative status of Quantum Chemistry in comparison to both Chemistry and Physics. It has been suggested, in the context of the question of the reduction relations between Chemistry and Physics that Quantum Chemistry as a research programme is incapable of furnishing useful guidance to practising chemists. If true, this claim will let us qualify Quantum Chemistry as a degenerating research programme, which, due to its complexity has dif…Read more
  •  1
    The Formalisation of the Periodic Table
    with T. A. F. Kuipers
    Poznan Studies in the Philosophy of the Sciences and the Humanities 75 285-306. 2000.
  •  128
    Austere quantum mechanics as a reductive basis for chemistry
    Foundations of Chemistry 15 (3): 311-326. 2012.
    This paper analyses Richard Bader’s ‘operational’ view of quantum mechanics and the role it plays in the the explanation of chemistry. I argue that QTAIM can partially be reconstructed as an ‘austere’ form of quantum mechanics, which is in turn committed to an eliminative concept of reduction that stems from Kemeny and Oppenheim. As a reductive theory in this sense, the theory fails. I conclude that QTAIM has both a regulatory and constructive function in the theories of chemistry
  •  34
    Linking chemistry with physics: a reply to Lombardi
    Foundations of Chemistry 16 (3): 193-200. 2014.
    In this paper I reply to Olimpia Lombardi’s comment on my recent book Reducing Chemistry to Physics: Limits, Models, Consequences
  •  41
    J. Quantum Chemistry, 2000"It will have a lasting value for theoretical chemists and science historians".Structural Chemistry, 2000" is a finely produced, ...
  •  37
    Henry Eyring's absolute rate theory explains the size of chemical reaction rate constants in terms of thermodynamics, statistical mechanics, and quantum chemistry. In addition it uses a number of unique concepts such as the 'transition state'. A key feature of the theory is that the explanation it provides relies on the comparison of reaction rate constant expressions derived from these individual theories. In this paper, the example is used to develop a naturalized notion of reduction and the u…Read more
  •  49
    Bohr's theory of the atom 1913–1923: A case study in the progress of scientific research programmes
    Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part B: Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics 26 (3): 307-323. 1995.
  •  213
    A note on Michael Weisberg’s: Challenges to the Structural Conception of Chemical Bonding (review)
    Foundations of Chemistry 10 (2): 135-142. 2008.
    Weisberg’s recent paper on the chemical bond makes the claim that the chemical notion of the covalent bond is in trouble. This note casts doubts on that claim.
  •  2063
    Chemistry and physics are two sciences that are hard to connect. Yet there is significant overlap in their aims, methods, and theoretical approaches. In this book, the reduction of chemistry to physics is defended from the viewpoint of a naturalised Nagelian reduction, which is based on a close reading of Nagel's original text. This naturalised notion of reduction is capable of characterising the inter-theory relationships between theories of chemistry and theories of physics. The reconsideratio…Read more
  •  200
    Explanation and theory formation in quantum chemistry
    Foundations of Chemistry 11 (3): 145-174. 2009.
    In this paper I expand Eric Scerri’s notion of Popper’s naturalised approach to reduction in chemistry and investigate what its consequences might be. I will argue that Popper’s naturalised approach to reduction has a number of interesting consequences when applied to the reduction of chemistry to physics. One of them is that it prompts us to look at a ‘bootstrap’ approach to quantum chemistry, which is based on specific quantum theoretical theorems and practical considerations that turn quantum…Read more
  •  74
    QTAIM as a research programme: a reply to Shahbazian (review)
    Foundations of Chemistry 15 (3): 335-341. 2013.
    In this paper I briefly reply to Shant Shahbazian’s comments on my paper “Austere quantum mechanics as a reductive basis for chemistry” and argue that quantum theory of atoms in molecules can be characterised as a research programme in the theories of chemistry. I also explore the areas in which Shahbazian and me agree and disagree