Chemical Atlas; or, the Chemistry of Familiar Objects: Exhibiting the General Principles of Science in a Series of Beautifully Colored Diagrams

Edward Youmans’s Chemical Atlas, a landmark in the early history of what has come to be called “infographics,” is one of the most inventive books published in the nineteenth-century United States. The book is built around thirteen colored diagrams that illustrate basic concepts of chemistry, geology, and optics, using simple forms and shapes. In some diagrams, the design is entirely abstract; in others, the author makes strategic use of realistic depictions of, for example, a candle or a landscape. The idea is that words and images work together to underline the physical principles that undergird nature.

Youmans intended the book for students and teachers alike, as an accompaniment to his own and others’ more traditional chemical textbooks. It is built upon Youmans’s belief, as stated in his preface, that: “The superiority of the eye over all other senses, as a means of education, is undeniable.” The designs have a clarity that makes them extremely effective teaching tools, in marked contrast to some other mid-nineteenth-century attempts to create graphic versions of scientific and mathematical texts; most notable among these is Oliver Byrne’s visually brilliant but pedagogically disastrous 1847 edition of Euclid.

Youmans’s firm belief in the importance of visual teaching is striking in light of his own extremely limited vision. In childhood, Youmans was diagnosed with ophthalmia, a chronic eye inflammation that meant he had very low vision for nearly all his life. He was, nevertheless, a prodigious author and editor, and a key figure in the development in science education in the United States. Youmans was the founder and initial editor of Popular Science Magazine, still published today, and established the International Scientific Series, which issued many dozens of English translations of important scientific monographs, covering every subject from astrophysics to evolution. The series was key to the maturation of science and engineering in the United States.