Prelude to Chemistry I, Fall 1976
Before we begin the workof this course, and in an effort to put in focus what we shall he doing here, I hope you will think with me for a few minutes about where yon are coming from, where you want to go, and how our work together can help you. Imagine for a minute that you are all alone and that no one but vou can hear vour words. sense vour thouehts or know you; feelings. NO; try to answer each of these questions honestlv and from the innermost Dart of vourself: Whv are vou here? what do you want from cklege? w h a t are you wiliing to do to eet this? What do vou reallv want to make of vour life'! Hv dcmandine of -yourself a ~ r i v a t ebut corn~letelvhonest answer to these questions-"I don't know,"-is a patently dishonest answer and vou know it-vou will have taken the first steps toward achieving what you want to achieve and being what you want to be. Your answers need not restrict you to a specific major or career choice, bur they will give you a clrar indication ui the direction in which you should be heading and the kind of commitment you will have to make. The general chemistry course sequence is a small-but according to campus rumor a challenging-portion of your college work. It will-or should--occupy about one-fourth of your class and study time during your first year here. These courses serve two major purposes, first to help you gain a working knowledge of the material world of which you are a part, and second, to help you learn how to learn, to assist you in developing intellectual talents and in acquiring certain learning and doing skills. Many among you will use the knowledge of the material world gained in this course (and in those that follow) in making a living. Those who choose any of the natural sciences or medicine, pharmacy, agriculture or engineering, for example, may find themselves applying principles and using facts of chemistry throughout their professional lives. All of you surely will need much chemistry-based knowledge to act and live intelligently in the modern world and, as good citizens, to assure the wise use of science and technology in safeguarding and improving the society. In this course, we shall deal with matters such as: what controls our supplies of atmospheric oxygen and other vital chemicals; where substitutes for depleted natural chemical stocks may come from; the nature and some limitations of our enerev o~tions:the meat chemical cvcles of nature: chemical mechinisms of tasteyvision and drugaction; chemicals in food, water and air: and some chemistrv that kee~svourbodies alive and healthy. To understand these complex topics, it will he necessary to study and learn some even more basic chemistry. The second ort ti on of this course-helping . - -you learn how to learn -In the long run may he even more useful rhan the first. And, althouah every course sou rake should runtribute to your development in this area, ;hemistry, coming as it does early in your curriculum and featuri.ng as wide a variety of intellectualactivities as any academicdiscipliie,offersunusual opportunities for growth in learning ability. At the end of this course, you will be able to do a good number of things with your mind, your time and your more disciplined self that you cannot do now. Like knowing how to swim, these are things you will not easily forget, but unlike swimming, they are tools
-
Ieditorially speaking
you will use in countless ways in much of what you will do throughout your life. These courses offer something for evepyone who wants to learn, and you need not compete with your classmates to benefit. The diversity and depth of chemical knowledge includes descriptive and practical material (the chemistry of acids and bases. and the aciditv or basicitv of soils or bodv fluids, for example); mathematiialand abstract concepts (th;, behavior of electrons in atoms and the cause of color. for example); and the solving of all kinds of numerical a d nonnumerical Droblems rannine from the theoretical through the experimen;al tuthe pra&al. A11 uf you have the hack&und to h ~ n d l esome oi the mnteriul easilv. h'me of vou has the background to handle most of it withbut effort. The effort is mow and develo~.The staff and I will he what will help . vou - here to guide and assist you if you.&ll try to help yourself. Think of vonr work here as an investment in makine.. vourself . a more competent and more versatile person. \I'hen you rome tan class or sit d w n to studv, set aside your worries, your fear and distrust of the world, your cynicism (if you are so afflicted) and concentrate on learning-get into it, as you and your friends would say. You will find the work interesting and for the most part understandable, especially if you stay with i t and seek help when despite your best efforts you still can't grasp a point or concept. One of the most fascinating and rewarding experiences in any course is to try to tune your mind to that of the professor and to train it to function in the manner of the professor's mind, particularly in the area of his or her expertise. Observe how that mind works, how it uses what it knows, how it reasons, and how it responds when stumped or faced with dilemmas or conflicts. Without becoming indoctrinated by the instructor's biases or brain-washed by his greater knowledge and experience, you can greatly improve the facility with which yon use your own mind. And you can enjoy the process in the bargain. Finally, a word about how you and what you do here fit into the broader picture of our society and culture may be in order. I trust we would all agree that despite its many faults and inperfections, the American society is wealthy beyond precedent and that when viewed in terms of our standard of living and the buying power of the average citizen, the distribution of wealth also may be without precedent. Historians and other social scientists tell us that no source of our wealth and no strength of our democracy exceed those that come from a decision bv the nation's fathers to remove the accumulated knowledge-from the libraries of the wealthy and from the dens of nhiloso~hersand to ~ u itt in the hands of the averaee ~ m e r i c a ncitizen. This made knowledge a public utility a i d the average citizen a consumer and potential pathfinder or inventor. The result was, and continues to he, a burst of creativity and inventiveness uneaualed in human historv. I f thew is any one serret 111success or vritfrion for survi\.al fur indi\wlual Americans or for the American dernocracv. it is the willingness of our citizens to learn beyond what &ey once thought themselves able, and to use what they have learned to brighten the world around them. As persons who have benefitted greatly from this tradition, and who can benefit and contribute even more, I hope yon will conduct yourselves accordingly. WTL Volume 53,Number 9. September 1976 / 533
