A Capstone Experience in Chemistry Jeffrey Kovac University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996
As part of a liberal arts education in chemistry it is important that a student gain historical, philosophical, and cultural perspectives on the field. Too often, students do not understand that chemistrv is a human endeavor that evolves over time. They faii to realize that science is part of culture and societv. ".not an isolated oursuit. In a n alreadv crowded curriculum there is rarely time to include these ~ersoectivesin the traditional courses that the maior comprises. One solution is to create a n upper-division "capstone" course for chemistry majors that examines the field from a historical and cultural perspective. . . I have taught a capstone course entitled "Topics in the Develooment of Chemistrv" to senior chemistrv maiors a t the u&ersity of ~ennesseefor the past severaiyea&. The course was originally created as part of a college-wide curriculum revision process in which all departments were invited to create such courses for their majors. Since its inception, the course has proved to be very popular with students. I t has also been quite successful in achieving its goal of giving chemistry majors a better understanding of science as a human endeavor. As currently taught, the course is not a survey of the history of chemistry; neither is it a course in the philosophy of science. Instead, it is principally a course in which important philosophical and sociological questions are raised in the context of a few detailed historical case studies. The advantage ofthe historical case study method is that students can eain an aooreciation for the comolexitv of the .* historical development of science. A survey course usually emphasizes the successes in order to carry the story line forward. But the development of science is filled with incorrect guesses, blind alleys, philosophical confusion, great arguments, and petty personal disputes. By looking a t a few specific cases in detail, students can gain a better appreciation for the real process of scientific development ascontrasted with the sanitized view usually in elementary textbooks. The instructor can also tailor the course to his or her own area of specialty. I have mainly chosencase studies that wouldbe characterized as physical chemistry because that is the area I know best. The literature in the history of chemistry is expanding rapidly; materials are available in other areas as well. Since this aooroach is rather unusual. I will describe the course, as currently taught, in some detail as a stimulus and a guide to those who might want to develop a similar offering in their own departments. One of the major difficulties in instituting such a course is finding appropriate reading material. While there are several standard histories of chemistry ( I , 2) and some excellent books on the philoso~hvof science (3) there is no single textbook that examina-chemistry from this broad pe&pective. In the oast decade a number of outstanding monoeraohs on the history of chemistry have appeared,lbut they are usually too long (and too expensive) for use in such a course. My approach has been to use inexpensive paperback books when they are available and to supplement them with photocopies of articles from a variety of sources. More detailed sources are kept on reserve in the library. A bibliography of the materials I have used is included in the description of the individual cases given below.
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My approach has been to teach the course as a seminar, rather than as a lecture. Readings are assigned for each section of the course. Along with the reading assignment, students are asked to write a short (500-1000 word) essav that is due a t the beginning of the discussion of that material. The essay topics are chosen to help the students confront the impo&n
