Operational practice and the emergence of modern chemical concepts.
Both "early chemistry" and "modern concepts" are imprecise. The earliest references to the materials involved in metallurgy, painting, ceramics, and the like, reveal an awareness that one group of materials were called "salts" because of their similarities. I consider this a chemical "concept." Seeking another example I claim to have found it is the so-called "mineral acids." The evidence for the existence of this concept is cumulative during the period just before the emergence of "modern chemistry," of which it may be considered a cause. That evidence is particularly found in the literature of pharmacy and of medicine, both of which belong to the practical arts.
Multhauf
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D002621:Chemistry / Q000266:history*; D000077406:History of Pharmacy; D049673:History, 20th Century; D049711:History, Modern 1601-; D006801:Humans; D008511:Medicine; D012492:Salts / Q000266:history*; D009626:Terminology as Topic
D012492:Salts