A TESTED METHOD OF TEACHING THE HISTORY OF CHEMISTRY* Two limitations of students preclude certain types of courses in the history of chemistry. One limitation is the lack of historical background; the other is the fragmentary knowledge of chemistry. These defects in the prerequisites of a course in this field are unavoidable under our present system of college instruction. It is not possible to give a continuous or a specialized course. During the twenty-five years in which I have taught the history of chemistry, certain facts which must be recognized in conducting a course in this subject have become evident. For example, students have little or no time, or possibly take little or no time, to read in a field which is broad or unfamiliar. General assignments usually result in general neglect. Hence any course to be successful must have specific aspects. I discovered long ago that students are interested in chemists and will read about famous men. I discovered incidentally that they remember important discoveries made by famous men, particularly if the chemist and his discoveries are definitely connected. I found also that most of the students are willing to write papers, if the subject-matter is not too difficult to obtain and the subject itself is sufficiently inviting. On the basis of these observations, accentuated no doubt, to some extent, by my own interests, I developed a course about ten- years ago and have tested it definitely with large classes during the last seven years. I abandoned a t the outset all hope of giving a continuous course or even a course including what most historians would regard as essential. The general plan of my course is substantially as follows: I give thirty-two lectures, one a week throughout the year. With a few necessitated exceptions these lectures are on famous chemists and their contributions to the history of chemistry. In each lecture I state briefly the biographical facts and then itemize and develop the contributions these men have made. Usually this consumes from thirty to forty minutes. In some cases the treatment is brief, but with a little care much superi3uous or local matter can be eliminated. The aim, it should not be forgotten, is to bring to the class the essential biographical fads and the essential contributions. The class is urged to buy and read Tborpe's History of Chemistry; references are given to several other books. The first five lectures are given without much thought of persons (though several are considered) and cover a carefully prepared account of chemistry from the days of the Egyptians to the time of Boyle. Beginniig with
" Read at the Baltimore meeting of the American Chemical Society. April 7,1925.
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the sixth lecture and continuing through the course with the exception of the seventh and the last lectures, the chemist and his contributions are specifically treated. This is the list I have found most serviceable: LIST 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.
11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16.
OP
LECTURE TOPICS IN
Greeks. Egyptians. Arabians. Alchemy. Medical Chemistry. Boyle. Phlogiston. Scheele and Bergman. Black. Cavendish. Priestley. Lavoisier. Lavoisier's Contemporaries Davy. Dalton. Berzelius.
A
TESTED COURSEI N 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22.
23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32.
THE
HISTORY OX CHEMISTRY
Gay-Lussac and Thenard. Dumas. Avoradro and Cannizzaro. . Faraday. Liehig and Wahler. Laurint and Gerhardt. Graham. Chevreul. Mendelejeff. Kekulh. Baeyer and Fischer. Ramsay. Moissan. Arrhenius, Raoult, and Van't Hoff. Mme. Curie. Chemistry in America.
I t might be thought that the limited material would produce a fragmentary course. This, however, has not proved to be the case. Usually the essential connecting links can be stated in a few minutes, so that while this is a topical course, it has a certain amount of continuity. I t was obvious in the early days of this course that the students listened with satisfaction and usually went away without much intention of studying the history of chemistry. Hence, I made it an inflexible rule that at every lecture, beginning with the second, each student must hand in a paper giving a brief account of the preceding lecture. These papers are examined and toward the end of the semester are returned for use in preparing for the examination. By insisting that the papers be brief, the work of preparation, as well as the examining, is reduced to a minimum. I t soon became apparent that these short papers were not highly regarded by some students. So I prepared a list of topics for more serious papers. The writing of these papers, as you will see by examinmg the list a t the end of this article, involves considerable reading-in many cases reading of original records or reprints, and in some cases requiring an unusual amount of study. This feature of the course has proved unusually profitable. Some remarkably good papers have been submitted, e. g., Scandinavian Chemists, Russian Chemists, Contemporary History, The Tree of Chemistry, and Pictures on Egyptian Tombs. Another observation made early in the course was the necessity of exhibiting considerable illustrative material. Hence a t each lecture as far as possible, I show portraits, autograph letters, books, and sometimes
lantern slides. I regard this as a vital part of the work. Students have repeatedly told me of their pleasure and profit derived from this material. Unless the portraits are expensive, I pass them about; even the autograph letters, protected by a celluloid cover, are passed about. The books are kept on the lecture table. Lantern slides are used infrequently, though in the last three years the size of the class has necessitated this method of presentation to considerable extent. TOPICS POR PAPERSIN TIIE HISTORYOF CHBXISTRY 1. Discovery of the Elementary Nature of Chlorine. 2. Gay-Lussac and His Law. 3. Priestley's "Crime." 4. Berthollet and Bleaching. 5. Development of Symbols. 6. Liebig's Contributions to Agricultural Chemistry. 7. Pasteur the Chemist. 8. Cannizzaro's Contributions to Chemical Theory. 9. The Religion of Michael Faraday. 10. Atoms, Molecules, and Electrons. 11. Electrochemistry of Berzelius and Davy. 12. Personality and Chemistry. 13. La Chimie est une Science Francake. 14. Van't Hoff's Contributions t o Physical Chemistry. 15. Liebig and Wahler and Their Contribution t o Organic Chemistry. 16. Dualism. 17. Laurent and Gerhardt. 18. Frankland and Williamson. 19. The Carlsruhe Convention. 20. Chemistry and the Royal Institution. 21. Scandinavian Chemists. 22. The Tree of Chemical History. 23. Paracelsns. 24. Insaiptions Showing Egyptian Contributions t o Chemistry. 25. The Arrest, Trial, and Beheading of Lavoisier. 26. Stephen Hales. 27. Priestley in America. 28. The ManChester Literary aria Philosophical Institute. 29. Proust. 30. Bunsen.
31. A Chronological Table of Famous Chemists. 32. Agricola. 33. Mayow. 34. Prout's Hypothesis. 35. Chaptal. 36. Dumas. 37. LeBel. 38. Sculptures an Egyptian Tombs. 39. Aristotle. 40. Basil Valentine. 41. Earth, Air, Fire, and Water. 42. Lucretius and the Beginnings of Chemical Theory. 43. Five Alchemists. 44. The Philosopher's Stone. 45. Van Helmont. 46. Geber. 47. Greek Philosophy and Its Foreshadowing of Chemistry. 48. Roger Bacon. 49. Albertus Magnus. 50. Raymond Lulli. 51. Arabian Alchemists. 52. Arnold Villanovanus. 53. The Universal Medicine. 54. Paintings of Alchemists. 55. The Alchemist in Drama. 56. Sylvius. 57. Physiology and Chemistry. 58. Grignard. 59. Sabatier. 60. Early Days of Chemistry in New England. 61. Early Days of Chemistry in Virginia. 62. The Priestley Centennial in 1874. 63. James Woodhouse. 64. SiUiman. 65. Acids and Alkalies. 66. Early Days of Organic Chemistry.
TOPICS*OR PAPERSIN THE HISTORY OP CHGMISTRY(Concluded) 67. Hassenfratz and Adet. 68. Lothar Meyer. 69. Avicenna. 70. Boerhaave. 71. Old Forms of Contemporary Apparatus. 72. Tyrian Purple. 73. Robert Brown and the Brownian Movement. 74. History of the Term Element. 75. J. R. Glauber. 76. Robert Haoke. 77. Klaproth. 78. Lemery. 79. Epoch-Making Books in the History of Chemistry. 80. Jean Rey. 81. Boyle's Sceptical Chymist.
82. 83. 85. 86. 87. 88. 89. 90. 91. 92. 93. 94. 95. 96. 97. 98. 99. 100.
The History of Sulfuric Acid. Wollaston. Avermes. Metals Known to the Ancients. Oswald Croll. Dulong and Petit. Frankland. A. W. van Hofmann. The Discovery of Mauve. Andreas Libavius. Macquer. Metallurgy of the Middle Ages. Bernard Palissy. Purple of Cassius. Fredrick Accum. J. B. Richter. Daniel Sennert. William Crookes.
