The Chemistry Lecturer as Virgil
During the past decade a stream of editorials, Provocative Opinions, and conference reports (1-9) appearing in this Journal has prodded me to wonder what I am doing for several hours each week as I stand before my class of more than 100 undergraduate organic students. Purportedly, I am lecturing. But why? With all the wondrous audio-visual aids, and even BOOKS (5) available, why not simply turn the students loose in mid-September with some of these devices (and a course guide), make myself available for an occasional conference, examine them a t the end of the semester, report a grade to the registrar, and thereby achieve the epitome of efficient academic instruction? What, in other words, and succinctly if possible, is the use of the lecturer? The answer, to offer the student humane, intellectual guidance through unfamiliar and difficult territory, came to me from Dante Alighieri. But that's a hit too succinct for students in mid-September, or for some of our colleagues a t any time. So I have prepared an elaborate pun which lucidly defines the problem and provides the answer. I have used this illustration for several years; it sets a nice tone for the semester. Near the end of the first class of the semester I describe my concern-Why the lecturer?-and tell the students that I have found the answer in one of the masterpieces of Western Civilization. I ask if anyone can identify a few quoted lines of Dante's "Inferno" (10). Invariably, several students recognize the source. "Exactly," I continue. "This is the monumental narration of Dante's travels through the Inferno. If you are a t all familiar with this work, you know that Dante could not have found his way through the fires of the Inferno alone
and unaided. If he had been a contemporary writer, he might have taken with him an appropriate guidebook: "Hell on $10 a Day," or "A Tourist's Map of the Underworld." But I rather doubt that he would have relied entirely on guidebooks, even today. As he described it, he was led through the various circles of Hades by the ghost of Virgil, who lent special emphasis to the tour. Virgil pointed out special dangers, emphasized special points of interest. He was immediately available to answer Dante's questions. With his vast knowledge, Virgil made the journey less difficult and more rewarding than it might have been without his human, if ghostly, companionship. "Let us compare Dante's journey with your own this semester. You both travel over unfamiliar and sometimes difficult territory, and you both benefit from the services of a responsive guide. With this in mind, I want you to spend this semester as if you were, en masse, Dante. Think of me as Virgil. And, if you do, you will find that organic chemistry is Hell!" Literature Cited i2j 131 i4i 15) 161 171 (81
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49,721 11972). Battino. R.. J. CHEM. EDUC.. as. 520119711. e t d . J. CHEM. E D i c . i a . 5 1 ~ 9 7 ~ ) . camer,H. Atkinson, G. F., J. CHEM.EDUC.41.661 119701. Wales. C.E., J. CHEM.EDUC.. 17.369119701.
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J. CHEM.EDUC.,43.33911966). Bsttino.R.. J. CHEM.EDUC.dl.ZR1 , ~~, 119661. .~ , ~ ~ ~ Fb L., J. ~ CHEM.EOUC.,IO, * , 17311963). ~
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1101 D a n e Aliehieri. "The Inferno" i h n s h f o r : Ciardi. J.1. The New American Library. N& York. 1954.
Carl H. Snyder The University of Miami Coral Gables, Florida 33124
Volume 50, Number 7, July 1973
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