edited by: MICHAEL R. SLABAUGH HELEN J. JAMES
chern I fupplernent
Weber
State College 84408
Ogden,Utah
The Chemical Composition of the Cell John R. Holum Augsburg College, Minneapolis, MN 55454 During a year's leave of absence for study a t another institution. I happened to overhear a conversation between two members o i t h e Chemistry Department. One professor told the other that his iunior-high-age child had recentlv announced with some kxcitement that the next topic in his junior-high physical science course was going to he molecular biology. During the ensuing conversation, the father has asked "What's a molecule?" His youngster did not know. In a sophomore-level high school hiology course, one of my own children was expected to memorize the names of several metaholic pathwaysand the names of several intermediates. She had had no previous study of chemistry, and she might as well have been asked to memorize a few dozen ten-digit numbers. Getting carts before horses is not a promising way of generating interest in science among young people. Needless to sav. anv discussion durine a hieh school chemistrv course abo"t
