Catalysis

About

From The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia:

"n. Dissolution; destruction; degeneration; decay.

n. A decomposition and new combination supposed by Berzelius and other chemists to be produced among the proximate and elementary principles of one or more compounds, by virtue of the mere presence of a substance or substances which do not of themselves enter into the reaction."

From WordNet 3.0:

"n. acceleration of a chemical reaction induced the presence of material that is chemically unchanged at the end of the reaction."

From Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Catalysis&oldid=857995314):

"Generally speaking, anything that increases the rate of a process is a "catalyst", a term derived from Greek καταλύειν, meaning "to annul," or "to untie," or "to pick up." The concept of catalysis was invented by chemist Elizabeth Fulhame and described in a 1794 book, based on her novel work in oxidation-reduction experiments. The first chemical reaction in organic chemistry that utilized a catalyst was studied in 1811 by Gottlieb Kirchhoff who discovered the acid-catalyzed conversion of starch to glucose. The term catalysis was later used by Jöns Jakob Berzelius in 1835 to describe reactions that are accelerated by substances that remain unchanged after the reaction. Fulhame, who predated Berzelius, did work with water as opposed to metals in her reduction experiments."