Chemistry Is Real and RelevantLet's Teach It as Such
I lead for relevance in the teaching of chemistry a t the college level. I am well aware that in our generation the word relevance is much overworked and often misunderstood. I suppose this is because it is such a flexible word, suhject to many meanings and appropriate t o many experiences. I want to make very clear, therefore, how it is to he interpreted here. The word relevance denotes the relation of one thing to another. Specifically, the things I have in mind are, on the one hand, the suhject matter of chemistry, and, on the other, life as we live it, and as others before us have experienced it. Permit me to explain this further by rehearsing a couple of my experiences in the teaching of chemistry. It is not at all unusual today to find a senior undergraduate major in chemistry who, though knowing his suhject very well, knows almost nothing about the relative significance or abundance, or volume produced, of the many compounds he has studied. For all he knows, phosphoric acid, urea, sodium hydroxide, henzophenone, terephthalic acid, cyclohutane, and you name it, are all of equal significance and value in our culture. Again, many a chemistry graduate has little or no conception of the way his science has been shaped by history, e.g., the second World War, or how chemistry has profoundly affected our civilization. Although he may have heard the word petrochemicals, e.g., he cannot associakit with real life or with the events which gave birth to them. Now i t is my contention, and I do not intend to defend it here, that we as teachers of chemistry are remiss if we do not, in some measure a t least, impart to our students some conception of the place chemistry occupies in our history and culture. Like everything else, chemistry does not exist in a vacuum hut is very much a part of, and related to, our milieu. On the one hand, the development of chemistry has been, and is, greatly dependent upon what 'happens in national and international affairs. On the other hand, chemistry occupies an important place among those forces which shape our way of life. In other words, the science of chemistry is shaped by, and gives shape to, the world we inhabit. I t is exactly this interplay, this perspective, which we do well to impart to the newcomers in the chemical profession. Perhaps this is just the ingredient our chemistry courses need these days, not only to make the material more interesting, hut also to emphasize that chemistry, too, is an integral part of a liberal arts education. The Committee on Professional Training of the American Chemical Society has recently expressed a similar view. In its September 1972 publication, "Objectives and Guidelines for Undergraduate Programs in Chemistry," page 4, it states Particularly in the first year, special efforts need to be made to give students an appreciation far, and historical insight into, the immense impact of chemical science on thought and technology and the significancefor nations and for man and his environment of synthetic chemicals and chemical transformations in agrieulture, industry, medicine, and other segments of a modern, technological society. 422 /Journal of Chemical Education
provocative opinion Emphasis an pure theory has too often led to a neglect of the practical, aesthetic, and humanistic aspects of ow science, not only in courses for non-scientists, but in the education of professional chemists as well . . . . Why is it that so much of our education in chemistry fails to convey this perspective? No doubt one reason is that we teachers just do not take the time for it, what with the enormous amount of material of a burgeoning science to cover, and with such a limited time in which to do it. We can also appeal to the fact that in recent years the task has become more difficult due to the popular trend to condense two or more courses into one. What once was taught in two years is now (supposedly) taught in one, or perhaps in only one semester. Still another contributing factor is the nature of many recent textbooks. Though excellent in content, some of these hooks are almost totally devoid of any reference to compounds and reactions as they relate to our daily lives. Now I would he the last to discredit these excuses. They are very real and cogent. But I contend that the time has come for us to take a hard look a t what is happening. I plead for a reordering of our priorities. Chemistry is not an abstract science, and we should not teach i t as such. To he sure, one cannot do everything he would like in the limited time available. It is likely that the teacher will have to forego treatment of certain compounds or reactions, important as they may he. But that may not he all that had. It is likely that the student can acquire such omitted information when necessary more easily then he can locate the other for which we are contending. Of course, as is always the case in education, the burden is on the teacher to make the changes and improvements. Admittedly, i t will tax his judgment and time, especially to locate the related material necessary to make the suhject come "alive." Incidentally, why not use the students to do some of this work through literature researches? Such assignments provide them the opportunity to develop an acquaintance with the chemical literature, quite the proper thing to do. Now let us zero in on a few examples of what I mean by saying that chemistry should he taught relevantly. I draw them primarily from the field of organic chemistry. As I do so, I am paging through a modem texthook which is excellent in content hut which generally fails to impart the perspective I a m looking for. Combustion is surely one of the most common reactions of alkanes. Complete comhustion is desired to supply the maximum energy to heat our homes and drive our cars. Surely, this obvious, simple fact deserves mention. But comhustion of alkanes is not always complete. Witness the large number of peoole who are overcome hv carbon monoxide poisoning in cars, or even in homes. call attention to the part that incomplete comhustion contributes to our air pollution problem, and what the government is doing about it by way of emission standards. Remind the students of the need for a periodic check of all gas-hurning devices in the home to make sure comhustion is as complete as possible. And let us not forget to make mention of the large industries based upon the incomplete
combustion of alkanes, those making carbon monoxide for use in the 0x0 process, those making carbon, or lampblack for use in tire manufacture, paints, typewriter ribbons. and so forth. These instances represent organic chemistry-large-scale organic chemistry-in action, in real life. It is here that chemical reactions profoundly affect the way we live. In my opinion, the way to give students the proper perspective on isocyclic chemicals is to consider with them how World War I1 affected the organic chemical industry. Prior to this war our only source of benzene, toluene, the xylenes, etc. was coal, a poor source from the standpoint of vield. The urgent need for toluene to make TNT, and for-other aromat& to make the high-octane fuels for aviation, led to the aromatization, or catalytic reforming, process. The results of this development have been numerous and very significant. Today petroleum is our main source of aromatic chemicals, some of which were hardly available before the war. I well recall how i t was almost impossible during the second world war to obtain, e.g., o-xylene for the synthesis of riboflavin and phthalic anhydride, or p-xylene for the production of pigments. Today both of these are abundant and cheap. Another fact worth mentioning here is the development of polyester fibers, something quite impossible without an abundant supply of the xylene raw material, and a good example of how an bistorical event some thirty years ago determined what we wear today. One can easily elaborate upon the significance of the reforming process and the petrochemical industry for organic chemistry. We have available today a variety of compounds, in large volume, which were relatively scarce or unheard of before World War 11. Many of these are currently heing explored, and no doubt will find their way into useful products. At the same time, many of these compounds have proved useful in experiments designed to test the theoretical aspects of the subject. Fluoroorganic compounds are now an important part of organic chemistry. Although a few were known since the beginning of this century, it is only since the second world war that a number of them have become household items. Much of the rapid development in this field received its impetus from the tremendous gains in fluorine technology during the war years. Specifically, the Manhattan project, which culminated in atomic fission, required large quantities of fluorine and its compounds for the separation of uranium isotopes. When the war was over we had available a vast amount of potential for producing and handling fluorine, and it was not long before this element was incorporated into many compounds of great practical value. This is just another instance showing how the de-
velopment of organic chemistry is very much related to historical events. The vast subject of polymer cliemistry is replete with examples of this interplay of chemical science with national and international affairs. During World War I1 our imports of latex were severelv reduced, and the pressure was on the chemical industryto produce adequate substitutes, which they did. Since that time the science of polymer chemistry has grown phenomenally. It is the exceptional person, indeed, who does not wear or use a synthetic polymer every day. And i t is certainly not out of place to emphasize that most of these polymers can be traced back to petroleum as the raw material. This represents quite a change from the pre-war days when petroleum served primarily as a fuel. Teaching chemistry affords many other ways to show how it is intimately interwoven with our style of living. These days food additives are very much in the public eye. They deserve mention a t various points-acids (benzoic, propionic), heterocyclics (saccharin, vitamins), amines (cyclamates), carbohydrates (thickeners), esters (flavorings) and so forth. Surfactants present many examples of how chemistry has altered our culture and also how our society has prompted changes in our chemistryon the one hand their use in foods, paints, sprays of all kinds, and on the other hand the public demand for a biodegradable detergent which required new types of products. And so we can go on to illustrate the tremendous impact of chemistry on our civilization and how the requirements of our culture determine the course of our science. I have found Chemical and Eneineerine News an excellent source of information of this score. Its articles and advertisements verv effectivelv relate chemistm and chemicals to everyman, to government, business, education and the consumer. Students should be encouraged to read it, or a t least to page through it. Some articlesmake g
