Revisiting the History of Catalysis: Elizabeth Fulhame’s Contributions and Other Historical Aspects.

Abstract

Catalysis is one of the areas of science whose history is little explored in textbooks used in the teaching of chemistry, which rarely dedicate part of the text to tell how this knowledge was built. Nowadays, catalysis is one of the most important aspects of industrial, laboratory and sustainable chemistry. This paper is meant to make a historical review of how some great names in the history of chemistry built all this knowledge, with special attention to the work of Elizabeth Fulhame, a British scientist, who pioneered the research in catalytic chemical reactions. In addition, other names and contributions of several scientists to the history and development of catalysis will be discussed, as well as the Brazilian contribution to the production of knowledge in this field. This work aims to contribute to broaden the vision of one of the most important branches of modern chemistry in several fronts, including financial, environmental and social.