A Moment for Reflection
Ieditorially
Anniversaries and other commemorative occasions are perhaps most valuable in providing moments for reflection, opportunities for refocusing and stimuli for revitalization. As we close the final volume of our first fifty years and pause briefly before proceeding on, we wonder: Of what use has the Journal of Chemical Education been? Has it served only to recount the fashions and fads of chemical thought, or to record the confused ramblings of those who "couldn't make it in research?" Is it no more than a source of amusement to critics, a target for those who mistake arrogance for excellence, or a facade to enable lazy teachers to give the appearance of keeping upto-date? Have our faithful readers learned more about chemistry and students and teaching than they could have learned by pursuing their normal research and teaching activities without looking at an educational journal? Have they derived from our pages any unusual insight into the nature of the material world or of the processes by which man learns to understand it? Can we say with any assurance that This Journal has made a contribution to chemistry, to teaching, learning or understanding, to education in the broader sense? The very awareness of such questions gives rise to a multitude of doubts that frequently assail our efforts, for how shall we ever he able to answer such questions with the verifiability or even the confidence with which we can answer many purely chemical questions? Still, we realize that chemical education cannot he a science. It can be only an art, an industry or possibly a philosophy-an art by establishing a panorama of and a measure of confidence in the accumulated experiences of thousands of chemistry teachers; an industry by sorting out and teaching the facts and skills students need to understand the science and to advance not only its frontiers hut those in other vital areas of human knowledge as well; a philosophy by seeking perspective and enlightenment, and by imparting intellectual discipline and a commitment to thinking and learning that will mark students throughout their lives in all they do. Such a view of chemical education does not mean we can ignore the hard questions posed above. It merely provides a more rational context in which to seek and frame
the answers. But even in this context we recognize that here, as in science, profundity manifests itself most often in pluralism and complexity-there is no one best way, no completely satisfactory single-minded solution. Possibly more than in science, objectivity here requires receptivity to alien hut potentially productive ideas. We also know that in the art of education we must learn to operate with only incomplete knowledge and to he content with results expressed in probabilities far lower than those we normally deal with in science. In accepting these limitations, perhaps we must learn to respect the views and even the delusions of a much wider segment of our fellows, and to hear reality with greater patience. Given all these "ifs, ands and huts," a creditable case probably can be made for the considerable influence of This Journal on education in chemistry during the past 50 years, even though some might wish the influence had been more profound. We like to think that this case, and indeed the answers to many of the questions posed are laid before our readers on a month by month basis, and that statements such as the summary given in the October editorial, [50, 657 (197311, are something more than mere recitations of current editorial policy and attitudes. We believe This Journal is neither above, below, beyond or aside from chemical science and secondary and higher education, but that it is a vital, contributing, responsible partner in all these. We are persuaded that it offers a reliable account of chemistry and chemical education as professionals perceive and practice them. We believe and hope it speaks with cogency on matters concerning teaching and learning, and with some measure of enlightenment and vision on those related to human growth in understanding and wisdom. If we were indulged a brief flight of fancy on this happy occasion, we would wish that readers might think of This Journal as a place wherein countless generative ideas, old and new, that form both the substance and the catalysts for chemical science and chemical thought are described with a freshness and excitement akin to that accompanying their discovery, and wherein a thousand great chemistry teachers of the past and present live and speak and teach and write. WTL
speaking
A Note of Appreciation We are pleased to acknowledge with grateful appreciation the many who have contributed to the Journal of Chemical Education over the years. In addition to recognizing as a group all our editors, business and advertising managers and their staffs, members of the Board of Publication and the Editorial Board, authors, reviewers, advertisers, subscribers, publisher and printer, we cite the following for their valued contributions: Features Editors: H. N. Alyea, W. H. Eberhardt, G. W. Ewing, J. A. Goldman, N. V. Steere; Board Members: E. C. Fuller, R. C. Brasted, R. W. Parry, G. W. Galloway, J. A. Young; Executives of the Chemical Education Publishing Company: Mrs. Harvey Mack, J. W. Mack, Walter Kowalick; Circulation Manager: Mary Brogan; Advertising Production Managers: Ruth Dalrymple and Frances Kuenzler; Art Consultant: C. M. Todaro. We also acknowledge a special debt to the following individuals for their most significant efforts on be-
half of This Journal, especially during the past seven years: to Frank J. Altschul, Jr., our advertising manager, whose tireless efforts and sturdy optimism along with the generosity of our advertisers have enabled us to maintain quality; to William F. Kieffer, whose advice, encouragement and hard work as Book Review Editor have been invaluable; to Harold S. Hutchison whose expertise in financial matters and unfailing assistance in enabling u s t o overcome countless budgetary and production obstacles have maintained us on a productive course; to Debora A. Bittaker whose extraordinary ability in editing copy and managing the flow of manuscripts has enabled us to maintain editorial probity and prevented us from ever missing a deadline. Thk Journal and its readers have been enriched hv the work of the many able and generous persons to whom we express gratitude and warm approbation. WTL Volume 50, Number 12, December 1973 / 799
