Analysis in the Mountains
T h e Snowmass-at-Aspen is probably the most comfortable analyst's couch in the land, and the bracing, rarefied breezes that blow across the western slope of the Colorado rookies must be the friendliest and most gentle of all psychiatrists. I n such surroundings even the toughest-minded of chemists might feel compelled to do a little soul-searching. Results of such soul-searching are summarized on the next page and will appear in the report of the international conference, '(Chemical Education for a World in Turmoil," held at Snowmass July 20-24. The report will be issued in draft form at the Chicago meeting of the ACS this month. By any measure the conference was a success. Talk was serious, attitudes were constructive, arrogance was absent, commitment was intense, ideas were abundant, even if solutions were lean. For what must be the first time in a t least a quarter century a group of chemists of all ages and interests appeared to be recognizing their science not as an isolated, exclusive, golden darn but as an important part of the entire fabric of society. And, what is perhaps more critical, they appeared to be acknowledging and accepting the responsibility to communicate with students and the public more effectively, more productively, more compassionately. They seemed to agree that education in chemistry from grade school to graduate school, if not deficient, is disturbingly underdeveloped. I n the mesmerizing majesty of the Snowmass they seemed to be pledging themselves to active participation in programs to fulfill the obligations that accompany these realizations. Whatever the effects of mountain mesmerism, there was no indication that any participant ever lost sight of the sine qua non of chemistry-its mission to develop new knowledge in the matter sphere and to apply such knowledge to problems of mankind. Two important ramifications of this mission with especial meaning for chemical educators came up repeatedly in the discussions. The first is that new knowledge is not created in a vacuum; the second is that human struggle is the mother of scientific progress. The conclusion: courses and curricula designed to interest students in careers in science must not fail to make these points. Attention was focused on the importance of elementary and secondary school science education when participants were confronted with the results of extensive studies in Britain and the US which indicate that in Britain virtually all students electing science as a career do so by age 15, while in the US more than 80% of those choosing science make that decision by their sophomore year in high school [THIS JOURNAL, 47,
editorially
326 (1970)l. To influence students before they make this decision it was suggested that chemical educators give highest priority to developing elementary programs that stimulate curiosity and discovery, and to secondary school programs that emphasize chemistry as a creative product of disciplined imagination. The extent and causes of public disenchantment with science and possible remedies to correct this received considerable earnest thought. Many seem persuaded that for all chemists, communication-especially with nonchemists-should be of equal importance with research and other professional activities. Academic chemists and educational administrators were urged to give their strongest efforts to identifying and developing competent, imaginative teachers for all instructional levels, and to attracting and holding the finest teachers in their own departments. Creative, new approaches to stimulating the interest of nonscience students were said to be imperative; the urgency of getting these students to like science and to see its importance in their lives was emphasized repeatedly. Graduate faculties were encouraged to develop more flexible advanced degree programs in which concern for societal problems plays a more explicit part and in which the interactive possibilities of chemistry with other disciplines can serve as the basis for the development- of problem solving skills. Some participants felt that predoctorate experience should become less specialized, more directed toward broad-gauge problem solving, and that specialization in a narrow segment of science should be reserved for the postdoctorate period. Others favored the reverse of this. The conference at Snowmass is the first of a series of conferences, symposia, and similar activities marking the golden anniversary of the Division of Chemical Education. It was designed to bring together leaders in chemistry from academe, industry, and government, to seek their advice on and solicit their assistance with the major issues and problems facing chemical education today. As the conference report will show, the issues were earnestly and exhaustively discussed, advice was freely and empathetically given, a course for the future of chemical education was clearly though not precisely charted. One question remains: How successful was the gentle analyst of the mountains? Will those who were there find the courage to work diligently for the rearrangement of professional priorities which at Snowmass they recognized with such clarity and urgency as being vital to the continued health and growth of chemical science? WTL
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