EDWARD C. FULLER Beloit College, Beloit, Wisconsin
ONE
of the most difficult intellectual problems faced by the college student of today is to see his education a n d the life it is intended to menare him for-in perspective. Too often the bewildered undergraduate thinks only in terms of jumping over (or crawling under) the hurdles of unrelated course requirements in science, social studies, humanities, and language so that he can trot down the homestretch t o commmce~-~ -----ment with these subjects safely behind him and never to be encountered again. The teacher of general chemistry, like the teacher of any introductory course in college, has both the opportunity and the obligation of helping his students to see his subject in relation to the whole world of knowledge. The teacher who shows the place of chemistry among the other natural sciences and the relation of science t o other disciplines can help a good deal in reducing intellectual provincialism among his students. One way of conceiving the broad sweep of man's knowledge as a correlated whole is to consider it as a continuous spectrum extending from science a t one end to humanities a t the other. Such a spectrum may be thought of as analogous in many ways to the electromagnetic spectrum. Mathematics and the natural sciences may he thought of as related to one another in one segment A
of the over-all spectrum of knowledge as shown in Figure 1.
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Mathematics
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Astronomy
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Physics
; Chemistry
I
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/ Biology j Geology
Increasing internal consistency (theoretical development) Increasingly empirical interpretation
Figure 1.
Tho spsstrvm of Methematics and Natural aie"ssr
The tremendous range of difference in wave length of electromagnetic radiation from cosmic rays (wave length less than 10-l2 em.) through radio waves (wave length greater than 10+14 cm.) is analogous to the tremendous difference in intellectual "wave length" from science on the one hand to humanities on the other. Just as the techniques for dealing with gamma rays are radically different from those used to manipulate radio waves, so the techniques for handling chemistry are different from those for dealing with literature. Nevertheless, just as there are basic characteristics common to all electromagnetic radiation, so there are basic characteristics common to all human thought. The spectrum of knowledge, like the spectrum of electromagnetic radiation, can be understood more readily if we focus our attention on different parts a t
JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL EDUCATION
different times. But we must always bear in mind that the boundaries between regions in both spectra are not discontinuities but only convenient dividing lines which are both arbitrary and diffuse. I n the visible spectrum, one color merges into the next, and it becomes a matter of choice whether we describe a given wave length as blue-green or green-blue, for instance. A similar choice is presented to us when we think of the fields of physical chemistry and chemical physics. What, then, are the characteristics which tie the sciences together into a continuum? P o i n c a r 6 a mathematician-said that science is "knowledge not of things but of their relationships." Einstein-a theoretical physicist-said that science is "the attempt to make the chaotic diversity of our sense experience correspond to a logically uniform system of thought." Pasteur-a biologist--said that science is "knowledge gained by systematic observation, experiment, and reasoning." A composite of these statements might be worded: Science i s logically organized and objectively verifiable knowledge of the relations ammg phenomena and i s also the search for these relations by systematic observation and reasoning. A scientist is, therefore, not orly a person who knows about nature but also one who does something with his knowledge. The action most characteristic of the scientist is, of course, research. I t may be research in the laboratory or with pencil and paper but the desire to "make sense" out of raw data is the driving force in either case. In science the data (at least on levels of moderate difficulty) are accessible to anyone who will strive to comprehend them. Scientific data are public and common knowledge, not private and personal experiences. They are determined by agreement (more or less approximate) among many observers of the same or similar phenomena. When I say science, I include by implication the social as well as the natural sciences. This particular portion of our whole spectrum of knowledge may be indicated as in Figure 2.
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Psychology Anthropology Economies : Sociology 1
i Government j History
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-Increasing - opportunities for experiments to build up .. logical, objective corisistency Increasingly empirical interpretation based upon subjective evaluation Figvra 2. The spectrum of Social Studies
Again it must be stressed that the boundaries between disciplines do not represent discontinuities but are convenient dividing lines which are both arbitrary and diffuse. For instance, the differences between social psychology and psychological sociology are tenuous indeed. The oft-encountered phrase "socioeconomic factors" further illustrates the need for bearing in mind the interrelatedness of social ~tudies. In social sciences the data a t hand are so plentiful and the variables so many and so difficult to control that the theoretical interpretations are more varied, more complex, and more slowly accepted by the ma-
jority of workers in a given field than is the case in the natural sciences. As one proceeds through the spectmm of social studies into the segment where subjective evaluation becomes dominant, he approaches the region of the humanities. When we attempt to find a definition of "humanities" we are engulfed in a flood of conflicting claims and high-voltage argument. A useful definition grows out of Walter Lippmann's statement that humanism "signifies the intention of men to concern themselves with the discovery of the good l i e on this planet by the use of human faculties." "Humanities" may then be thought of as those studies concerned with humanism. If we conceive of religion as an extension beyond humanistic studies, we may indicate the final segment of our spectrum of knowledge as in Figure 3. Literature
Fine Arts Music, Drams.
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Religion
Philosophy
Increasingly subjective concepts Figure 3.
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The Spoctrum of the Humanities
The key concept which underlies the region of the spectmm described as "the humanities" lies in the phrase "the good life." The scientist is curious to learn the truth for its own sake but the humanist seeks both truth and goodness. Of course, the discoveries of science can lead to the good life through conquest of disease, multiplication of food supplies, and alleviation of the cruel manual labor which consumes the lives of so many individuals in primitive societies. However, these "goods" are achieved by technology rather than by science itself, for the technologists and engineers are the men who apply scientific knowledge for the good of mankind. Technology may, of course, be applied toward evil ends-the use to be made of nuclear fission being a most urgent case in point. Shall we employ our supplies of uranium and thorium to blast our way to world domination or shall we breed power and lifegiving radioisotopes in our reactors? The answers to these questions will not be made by any one group of people in our society. Our natural scientists must lead in discovering nature's ways. Our technologists must lead in discovering how to control natural processes to achieve the good life. Our social scientists must lead in discovering how to achieve the good life for more men through social processes. Our humanists must lead in discovering what the good life really is. The natural sciences, social studies, and the humanities, then, are but convenient categories for sorting out and handling today's enormous stocks of knowedge. The boundaries between these categories (and between the disciplines included in each category) are both arbitrary and diffuse. Though relationships between the narrow disciplines in a given category are more readily recognizable than relationships between the broader categories, there are threads of continuity which tie together the whole spectrum of the liberal arts and sciences.
+ + + VOLUME 34, NO. 3, MARCH, 1957
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