From the time when Guldberg and Waage gave quantitative form to the speculations of the physicist Berthollet, a clear conception of chemical equilibrium, in sharp contrast to an anthropomorphic theory of affinity dating back to Hippocrates and Barchausen, has yielded rich and abundant fruit.
Introduction Note: Johann Conrad Barchusen was the author of Pyrosophia (1698) - Higher Mathematics for Chemical Students (1911)