Chemical Education Today edited by
Book & Media Reviews
Scientific Development and Misconceptions through the Ages by Robert E. Krebs Greenwood: Westport, CT, 1999. vii + 263 pp. ISBN 031330226X. $49.95. reviewed by Paul R. Jones
This is the second book by this author, the retired Associate Dean for Research, University of Illinois Health Sciences Center, published by Greenwood Press. The first, which appeared in 1998, was The History and Use of Our Earth’s Chemical Elements. Krebs’s motive in this writing, only finally stated in an epilogue, is twofold: a purpose to provide historical reference for scientific development, beliefs, and misconceptions and an aim to assist readers in assessing what they will have learned from their reading here. In my opinion, he has succeeded moderately well in his purpose; but he addresses his aim only in the two pages of the epilogue. The introductory background chapter is intended to provide a “short history of science”. It amounts to some definitions of science and experiment followed by a series of descriptions of “what science is not”. A distinction is made between experimental and empirical approaches and their correspondence to basic and applied sciences, respectively. For whom is such a presentation intended? A reader with scientific training would find this mundane; and while someone without scientific background would gain some perspective, it would be fraught with confusion, because of statements such as “Science can be thought of as both a product and a process, or as a noun and a verb.” Are not “product” and “process” both nouns? In the remaining five chapters the author presents his material under the following headings: Medicine and Health; Life Sciences; Chemistry and Physics; Astrology, Astronomy, and Cosmology; and Conservation, Ecology, and Environmentalism. His approach is to provide an introduction to the discipline and then historical developments in subdisciplines, arranged chronologically and identified with key individuals. Typically each section is concluded with an enumeration of misconceptions about the science. The subdisciplines within a branch of science seem arbitrary and even unexpected. Under Life Sciences, for example, the major subheadings are Creation, Change, Geology, Time, and Evolution. The chapter on Astrology, Astronomy, and Cosmology is perhaps the most usefully instructive for the uninformed reader. The chemist
970
Jeffrey Kovac University of Tennessee Knoxville, TN 37996-1600
will be frustrated with the chapter on Chemistry and Physics, in which physics predominates and confusion reigns. The second paragraph under “The Golden Years of Chemistry and Physics” is practically impossible to follow (page 136). The author’s definition of physical chemistry (“thus atomic structure is more in the realm of modern particle physics than chemistry and is known as physical chemistry”) and his statement that, “ultimately, everything may be considered physics” suggest a superficial background. Moreover, one concludes that chemistry as described is essentially synonymous solely with atomic structure. The last chapter, “Conservation, Ecology, and Environmentalism”, is of necessity a current treatment in which space is devoted to sorting out meanings and understanding of the distinction between ecology and environmentalism. The author provides a strong message to the scientifically uninformed reader about understanding this field, but he does not hesitate to convey his own strong opinions about Rachel Carson, toxic substances, nuclear energy, electrophobia, recycling, and the greenhouse effect. A reader will be distracted with the writing style, which is characterized by awkward passages (“The second law of thermodynamics states that disorder, randomness, and ultimate chaos…become less organized”), needless repetitions (“A man cannot step into the same river twice” appears on pages 77 and 79), and far too many typographical errors (it’s for its, effect for affect, etc.). Because citations only occasionally are provided to references in the bibliography, the book cannot serve as a reference source for a reader who wants to pursue some subject in more depth. The index seems scant and inconsistent. While some topics covered in the text are not included (Darwin, pneumatic chemists, radon, uncertainty principle), others, which I would consider major, are missing altogether—Lucretius, Cannizzaro, Pauling, Seaborg, and photosynthesis, for example. For what readership will this book serve effectively? It provides an encapsulated background of some areas of science, albeit somewhat arbitrarily selected, which includes brief historical contributions of many eminent personages and the etymology of scientific terms. Those with little or no scientific background or expertise within one of the specializations, instead of consulting an encyclopedia, can benefit from a reading. Paul Jones is Visiting Scholar in the Department of Chemistry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48105, and editor of the Bulletin for the History of Chemistry;
[email protected].
Journal of Chemical Education • Vol. 77 No. 8 August 2000 • JChemEd.chem.wisc.edu
