A Useful Teaching Aid: Handouts on Personalities in Chemistry Presenting information on chemical histcq in a modern first-ycnr rhcmirtrv course is a d~ificultursk for the instr~~rrur. The author has fiund handouts an important chemisrs in history to he an effective method of prcswtlnr: relcvi~nrloplrs in r h e m i d h~rtow.T h e hnndotnu nrr dlwded inw pemunal and virnrific rectums and thus 4 m . p h t h rt. humani,c r h m m t r y and to present important discoveries in historicalconteat. In practice, a handout is distributed shortly before the topic i t deals with is to be covered in class. In this way important discoveries are introduced informally and as the product of efforts of real people. For example, before studying the atomic theory, students learn that John Dalton was a Quaker school teacher whose interest in meteorology led him to progressive studies of the atmosphere, gases ingeneral, and finallyto the particulate nature of matter. Similarly, students can identify with the brilliant hut obscure Avogadro whcae hypotheses were rejected in his lifetime even though they resolved the apparent conflicts between Gay-Lussae's law of combining volumes and Dalton's concept of unbreakable atoms. Numerous other examples of real scientists solving real scientific problems in history can be presented. The handouts are kept short (one or two typed pages) and are easily prepared using standard chemical history and biographical books. Students much prefer them to library reading assignments because of their accessibility and conciseness. Students appreciate them both as helpful introductions to important topics and as useful material to review for scientific
consuming essentially no class time, and being presentable in any chosen order. Kirsehenbaum, L. J., J Chem. Educ., 52,193 (1975)
The Ohio State Univenity-Lima Lima, Ohio 45804
578 / Journal of Chemical Education
Charles G. Moseley
