Hi Ralph,
I was fortunate to have a great History and Philosophy of Science Course as
an undergraduate in the 1960's. That course was taught by a young teacher
who was enthusiastic about the subject and focused on development of ideas with
a historical perspective, and some original readings, without resorting to
a list of names and dates. Unfortunately, such courses and
instructors were not valued by the college and that course (and the instructor)
did not last and was later dropped from the science major curriculum.
I have always taught with a historical perspective and have given a number
of papers on using history in teaching dating back to 1975. I believe that
it is important to understand how our modern concepts and theories
developed. Readings in the history of chemistry must, in my opinion, go
beyond sources that discuss and compare these ideas and to reading some of the
original papers by major scientists along with an understanding of the
social and political climates of their times. You may recall the excellent
books and TV series The Ascent of Man by Jacob Bronowski, and
Connections by James Burke. As I'm not aware of any compilation
of the environmental and safety aspects of much of the historical work, it
is up to the instructor to add that perspective.
Best regards,
David
_________________________________________________________________________
David A.
Katz
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and Consultant
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-----
Original Message -----
Sent:
Thursday, August 13, 2015 4:46 AM
Subject:
[DCHAS-L] Teaching Chemistry with a Historical Perspective
Given the level of interest shown by the list in the cultural
aspects of chemistry in the fictional universes, I thought I would point out
to the list that there is an article in today's Journal of Chemical Education
on "How Did We Get Here? Teaching Chemistry with a Historical Perspective"
which has a helpful list of historical chemistry literature resources. There
doesn't appear to be much on environmental or safety aspects of this history
included in these resources, but this might be helpful in developing such
materials.
https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__pubs.acs.org_doi_abs_10.1021_ed5005239&d=BQIGaQ&c=lb62iw4YL4RFalcE2hQUQealT9-RXrryqt9KZX2qu2s&r=meWM1Buqv4IQ27AlK1OJRjcQl09S1Zta6YXKalY_Io0&m=smm9Gz6OQ5EeqkDaweU3Jmb1nVTN2T4wYuQl04Fx1hE&s=c9ByqkP-vf3dOzvCu9SHxiGJdeEG1Lke_ZVMxNGVOWc&e=
Also, someone pointed out to me last week's C&EN article on the
PBS Docudrama "The Mystery of Matter," which tells the tales of seven chemists
with dramatic reenactments
https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__cen.acs.org_articles_93_web_2015_08_PBS-2DDocudrama-2DBrings-2DDiscovery-2DChemical.html&d=BQIGaQ&c=lb62iw4YL4RFalcE2hQUQealT9-RXrryqt9KZX2qu2s&r=meWM1Buqv4IQ27AlK1OJRjcQl09S1Zta6YXKalY_Io0&m=smm9Gz6OQ5EeqkDaweU3Jmb1nVTN2T4wYuQl04Fx1hE&s=8RcYIqaggazOPPXGLCQEY9tHLxTd5kfx4TxyTTWQIls&e=
I saw previews of the Marie Curie episode a few years ago and there
are a lot of opportunities to discuss the connection between the demonstrated
lab practices and the health impacts on her and her co-workers of the
chemistry she conducted.
- Ralph
Ralph Stuart, CIH,
CCHO
Chemical Hygiene Officer
Keene State College
ralph.stuart**At_Symbol_Here**keene.edu
