Chemical Education Today
Book & Media Reviews The Chemical Element: A Historical Perspective (Greenwood Guides to Great Ideas in Science) by Andrew Ede Greenwood Press: Westport, CT, 2006. 183 pp. ISBN 0313333041, $65. reviewed by Eric R. Scerri
This book is published in a new series that focuses on fundamental scientific concepts such as the gene, the quantum, geological cycles, planetary motion, etc. The stated goal from the series editor, Brian Baigrie, is that “although volumes focus on the historical development of the scientific ideas, the underlying hope is that the reader will gain a deeper understanding of the process and spirit of scientific practice.” As I see it, the book succeeds partly with regard to the main focus but not with the underlying hope. I learned many historical details about the elements but would have wanted more cohesion between the various developments discussed, or a more unified treatment than the author is offering in this book. The writing is good in general, although sometimes the sentences seem a little too short and choppy. Perhaps the author is trying to appeal to the intended audience of high school and college students as well as the general public, but I am not sure that adopting this style is of great benefit. If the aim is really to educate readers about aspects of scientific practice one wonders whether the task should have been carried out by somebody closer to the chemical content rather than a professional historian of science. Moreover the author, Andrew Ede, makes no mention of various developments that have taken place within the recent resurgence in history and philosophy of chemistry. There is no mention of the debate regarding the relative virtue of
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Journal of Chemical Education
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prediction and accommodation of the elements within the periodic system. Nor is there any mention whatsoever of the long-standing, and recently much revisited, debate concerning the dual nature of the elements as principles or basic substances on one hand or as simple substances in the sense of Lavoisier on the other hand. On a more practical note, there seems to be a tendency in some books on the elements, and on the periodic table, to include what can only be described as shameless page-fillers. Of the 183 pages of the book under review, only 112 pages consist of actual text. The rest includes, among other things, a 43 page appendix listing the elements in the order of their discovery along with some basic information such as their atomic numbers, atomic weights, melting points, and boiling points. The fact that the author may not have been involved in this compilation is suggested when one reads that the discovery of radon is attributed to Frederick Soddy in the main text (p 85), whereas in the appendix it is correctly attributed to F. E. Dorn. A few too many urban myths are trotted out, including the one concerning Mendeleev, who is said to have arrived at his periodic system while playing the card game of patience. There is too much emphasis on physics rather than on chemistry, particularly in the later parts of the book. A few too many contributors are mentioned throughout the text but with not enough conceptual “glue” to connect them more convincingly. Once again an author with a deeper knowledge of chemistry might have addressed this aspect more effectively. To end on a more positive note, it is at least gratifying to see that chemistry, which is so often ignored in the history and philosophy of science, should even have been included in this series. The next step might be to do the job properly. Eric R. Scerri is in the Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA 90095;
[email protected] Vol. 84 No. 1 January 2007
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