Base (chemistry) increase the hydronium (HO) concentration in water, whereas bases reduce this concentration. A reaction between an acid and base is called neutralization. In a neutralization reaction, an aqueous solution of a base reacts with an aqueous solution of an acid to produce a solution of water and salt in which the salt separates into its component ions. If the aqueous solution is saturated with a given salt solute, any additional such salt precipitates out of the solution. The notion of a base as a concept in chemistry was first introduced by the French chemist Guillaume François Rouelle in 1754. He
Chemistry: A Volatile History than a decade earlier in 1661, a year after the Royal Society opened, Boyle deposited "The Sceptical Chymist" in its vaults. This book is usually regarded as the turning point that signaled the transition from alchemy to chemistry. "The Sceptical Chymist" was innovative in several ways: it was not written in Latin, as had been the tradition for alchemist books, but in English; it dispensed with the old chemical symbols for various elements, using English names instead; and most crucially it was actually published, as opposed to kept secret. Boyle was willing to share his discoveries to allow others to