Aryana Libris

Author : Ridenour Michael
Title : A brief history of chemistry
Year : 2004

Link download : Ridenour_Michael_-_A_brief_history_of_chemistry.zip

Preface. Though the scope of the book expanded in the course of writing it to acquire a broader and more general scope, my original purpose in writing was to provide a short readable history of chemistry for my eleventh grade chemistry block. It is a long block-as close to four weeks as possible-so I had time to develop a multi-dimensional approach to chemistry. I also had a wide range of students to consider. Classes are typically made up of interested students some who are not so interested. I had to treat the subject in a way that can woo those who might think a test tube will swallow them whole if they get too close and win those who can’t wait to see the whole school go up in a ball of fire. Fortunately I find chemistry to be very exciting without the great balls of fire and am particularly fond of the human side of it. And that gave the range of purpose a special focus. We are all human, at least in our better moments, I reasoned, so why not make that the key to a wide range approach to chemistry ? And that is just what this little history of chemistry tries to do-get to the human side of how the science developed and show just how human it is. That way I could show how chemistry (or any other science) is a process rather than an authoritative body of knowledge that is remote from the student and indifferent to human experience. Not only that, but perhaps even more to the point, history paralleled with some period experiments can give an orderly and developmental approach to the basic laws of chemistry. And if I did it right, I told myself, I could put the historical approach to some new use in a variety of ways. Just plain chapter summaries were one option for a class with some really good writers. Or maybe paragraphs on each major player in the process. Or thematic studies, say, of how trends of thought go from Pythagorus, to the law of constant proportions. Or, I could use the text to introduce major characters and let it act as a springboard for student reports. Anyway, the idea of such an approach was exciting-it offered a way to maximize my options. And even, I told myself perhaps too fondly, the book could be a good little read in case anyone might want a short look at the history of chemistry with a few extras added. So with a grab-bag of possibilities in mind, I looked over my bookshelf and noticed some books on chemistry I hadn’t gotten around to reading and put my very human intentions to work. Bearing in mind that the book had to be a good read that made the material accessible and even “fun work” I had some definite parameters. I had to be careful not to make it too long-didn’t want to turn anybody off. I knew I had to shape the whole thing so it would get to the essence of the science and of the human in an imaginative way. I also knew that Waldorf students have high expectations and can be very picky. As teachers we can perhaps take the blame for some of that; all around high expectations being the staff of life on the daily menu. And what goes around comes around. So I knew I’d better come up with something that would be a combination of cool, fiery and smooth, yes, but which also developed an approach to science that captured the enthusiasm and intensity of the chemists who spent incredibly long hours in dirty labs analyzing concoctions of dubious smoky looking fluids, and smelling it all down in reeking rooms-just to see the beautiful mysteries of an unknown world. Yes, chemists have to be a little crazy and that was fine. ...