Chemical History through Birthdays and Anniversaries The instructor of the first-year chemistry course is seldom able to present conceptual material in historical context while still doing justice to the topic itself. An alternative approach to chemical history which has been well-received by the author's students involves a "this day in history" type format which allows discussion of chemical milestones in an essentially random but nonetheless exciting manner. A few minutes before each class, the calendar date (give or take a day or two) is written on the blackboard along with the year in which a famous chemist was born or an important discovery was made or announced. Free discussion then proceeds far about five minutes. This gives the class an opportunity to (1) recall a topic which was previously learned (2) anticipate material yet to come (students with strong backgrounds are usually eager to demonstrate their ability to recall pertinent information from high school courses or general reading) and (3) learn about people and events that would ordinarily not he covered at all. Anecdotes and nonchemical aspects of famous chemists lives (e.g., Ahrrenius' difficulties with his thesis examination committee, Lavoisier's politics, Priestley's religion, Mendeleev's balloon ride, etc.) may be presented to the class a t a time and in a manner which does not divert attention from the contributions of those men hut rather amplifies and reinforces past or future learning. In addition to the standard source bwks in chemical history, a particularly useful listing of historical events hy calendar date has recently appeared as part of s publisher's advertisement.' These presentations seem to heighten the students' interest in chemistry as a field involving real people. Questions such as "What else did so-and-so do?" permit the students to share (and show off) what they have learned outside of class and permits a free, relaxed f 0 ~ m for discussion. Students gain and retain a great deal of knowledge and insight from this portion of the course even though (or perhaps, because) they know it will not be included on examinations. '"Great Dates in Chemistry,"Prentice-Hall, Inc., Englewwd Cliffs, N.J., 1973. Louis J. Kirschenhaum University of Rhode Island Kingston, Rhode Island 02881
Volume 52, Number 3. March 1975
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