This commentary talks about the worldwide health impact of lack of access to potable water. Household water treatment and storage (HWTS) is described as one approach to improving potable water accessibility in which students and educators can make a contribution to alleviate the problem of lack of access. The author suggests that, as chemists,…

In this interview, Carl Djerassi recalls his first years, from his pleasant childhood, to how he escaped the Nazi persecutions, to his college education in America. He remembers how with his research group he won the race for synthesis of cortisone, and how they then synthesized norethindrone, the active ingredient in oral contraceptives. Djerassi…

This paper offers an overview of the development of the peer-led team learning (PLTL) model for teaching and learning chemistry, from the personal journeys of the authors in their classrooms to the national dissemination of the model to the full range of colleges and universities and to other STEM disciplines. In the PLTL model, students who have…

This commentary disagrees with a recent submission (Cheung, D. "J. Chem. Educ. 2009, 86," 514-518) questioning the value of the Le Chtelier principle (LCP). Cheung points out that the LCP fails to predict the proper change in a small set of chemical equilibria. This commentary argues that the LCP has great qualitative utility in correctly…

In response to a reader query, this article traces the origins of the ionic-radius ratio rules and their incorrect attribution to Linus Pauling in the chemical literature and to Victor Goldschmidt in the geochemical literature. In actual fact, the ionic-radius ratio rules were first proposed within the context of the coordination chemistry…

This interview provides glimpses of Joseph J. Lagowski and his life from the time he played with a Gilbert chemistry set, to his tenure at The University of Texas at Austin. His initial interest in chemistry was further nurtured and developed thanks to an excellent high school teacher. In the interview, Lagowski discusses his research in…

Large curricular changes of the 1960s brought about by the ChemStudy and Chemical Bond Approach initiatives were generally successful, but they also created learning problems. These were well recognized by a series of surveys in 1971. Recent surveys (2008) show that the same chemical difficulties for learners are still present in most "modern"…

In this interview, Peter Atkins explains the deep motivations that compel him to sit at his desk at 6 AM writing books and textbooks. He discusses the four principal elements that help to make a chemistry textbook successful, including the secret ingredient. He also discusses the importance of problem solving, the interaction of multimedia, and…

A new special-topics course on green chemistry would help students to critically evaluate policy decisions in an environmentally conscientious manner. The actively acquired knowledge would allow students to spread the word about green chemistry in the long term to the world, where they would pursue their future goals of life.

Teachers should use real-life issues while teaching chemical principles, so that students can find issues worthy of engagement both in their studies and over the course of a lifetime. Difficulties and failures present excellent teaching opportunities and they give the students the intellectual space to consider the questions that might be…

The history of the development of mass spectroscopic methods used to characterize polymers is discussed. The continued improvements in methods and instrumentation will offer new and better ways for the mass spectral characterization of polymers and mass spectroscopy (MS) should be recognized as a complementary polymer characterization method along…

Students have standardized a sodium hydroxide solution and analyzed commercially available sports drinks by titrimetric analysis of the triprotic citric acid, dihydrogen phosphate, and dihydrogen citrate and by ion chromatography for chloride, total phosphate and citrate. These experiments are interesting examples of analyzing real-world food and…

The philosophy of chemistry has offered new tools that can guide educators in deciding how to balance descriptive and theoretical chemistry. The philosophy of chemistry has positive effects on the way that chemistry is taught and learned and it also leads educators to reach a better understanding of their own scientific discipline.

The pseudoscientific views in educated society are facing increased problems, which needs the rectification of current deficiency of historical context in science education. This can change the way the students view claims and ideas presented to them.

In this interview Roald Hoffmann reveals aspects of his private life, from the great difficulties he experienced during World War II, to his personal beliefs. Hoffmann addresses questions about the meaning of laboratory work, teaching chemistry, representing chemical ideas, his philosophical quandaries, his poetry, and his view of atomic orbitals.…