Relevance is Nothing New to Good Teachers
T o the Editor There are demands todav for makina courses and texts relevant to the world we livein, and insinuations that neither the old texts nor the old instructors have done this. Recently, a departing post-doctoral student working with me gave me a gift of McPherson and Henderson's "First Course in Chemistry," published in 1914. Listed below are some of the questions taken out of this book. "\Vhere is New Calrdonia" "Give the steps in prrparing nitn,al)crrin from garbage" "\\'hy dues trrsrment id'buneswithxulfi~r~cnc~d make themmore availalrleas plnnt fd" "\Vhv du dillrrmt nntmns use diiierent claires dfwds" "Asccrtnin the current pnr-of rummon imd., then work our a list of the most economicones to use as a source of protein" "If your clothing became spotted with acids in the laboratory, how would you try to remove the spots" "Why will vegetables cook faster when boiled in salt water than when boiled in soft water" "Would ice frozen from impure water necessarily be free from disease germs" In the appendix to the hook, the authors admonish instructors as follows: It is suggested that there should be close cooperation betyeen the teachers of chemistry and teachers of English. They also suggest to students and teachers the procedure for communicating with chemical firms as follows: Many large firms can supply printed descriptions of their processes and oroducts. and a courteous letter of inauirv is almost certain to
It is particularly instructive to review the approach these authors took sixty-four years ago. The good teachers of chemistry have never been divorced from making their subject matter relevant. It is further interesting to note that the widely-used McPherson and Henderson text of 1914 has set the mold for
424 1 Journal of Chemical Education
the freshmen texts used todav. ,. adding of course, new material and new degrees of sophistication. Nevertheless, the pattcrn ht~ldi.It is of interest to recall that William Mrl'herson ioined the Department of Chemisrry at Ohio Stale t'niversity i n 189.2 and William Hendrrwn iuined the dewrtment in 1809. I t is really amazing that the& influence in still felt, both a t the University a t which they taught, out of which have come numerous s&cessors to the origkal McPherson and Henderson. I have often wondered why the last part of freshmen chemistry is devoted to organic chemistry. I think I have finally discovered the answer. That's what McPherson and Henderson did, more than half a century ago. Milton Orchin
University of Cincinnati Cincinnati, Ohio 45221
Cautionary Note to Setting Exams on Fire
To the Editor: On page 655 of the October 1978 issue John Jardin and others describe the "cold flame" experiment under the heading "Setting Exams on Fire." Fortunately they advise to test the 1:l mixture of water and ethanol beforehand since the exams may be in real danger of catching fire. There is, however, one other risk involved if a bottle falsely labelled "gasoline" is used and no explanation is given by the teacher. The students. im~ressedbv the snectacular event. mav trv to repeat the expkriment a t home, and believing whatthey have seen.. a .. ~ .~real l veasoline instead of the mixture described. If the teacherprefers to keep his secret, he should use an unlabelled bottle. Wobbe d e Vos Ooststellingwerf State School 8431 LR Oosterwolde Holland
