Textbooks mainstream chemistry

Instead of a theory to elucidate the important unsolved problems of chemistry, theoretical chemistry has become synonymous with what is also known as Quantum Chemistry. This discipline has patently failed to have any impact on the progress of mainstream chemistry. A new edition of the world s leading Physical Chemistry textbook [4] was published in the year that the Nobel prize was awarded to two quantum chemists, without mentioning either the subject of their work, nor the names of the laureates. Nevertheless, the teaching of chemistry, especially at the introductory level, continues in terms of handwaiving by reference to the same quantum chemistry, that never penetrates the surface of advanced quantum theory. 

Infusing Green Chemistry Into Mainstream Chemistry Textbooks An Informal Survey... 

The first strategy is to rmdertake a superficial scan of mainstream textbooks that everyday situations have been connected to cormnon school chemistry textbooks. For example, student-exercises may contain informatiorr, about contaminants in a river such as lead salts, about acid-base indicators in plants or about food additives for the preservation of wine. However, implicit confusion may (and frequently will) occur when the textbook and the teacher aim at reaching the right answer, for example the correct calculation of the concentration of an additive in gram per litre or parts per million (ppm). Students may still pose questions such as How many glasses of wine can I drink before 1 will get sick What is the effect of alcohol on my body Why is the addition of sulphite to wine important Is the same fact tme for red wine Or even further Shouldn t the government prohibit the addition of sulphite In this way students can become personally involved in subjects that can be related to their learning of chemical substances, and even to atoms and molecules. But, the student-activities in mainstream school chemistry textbooks often are not focused on this type of involvement they do not put emphasis in the curriculum on personal, socio-scientific and ethical questions that are relevant to students lives and society. 

In short, momentum for the project has been established. Publication of the Companion by the ACS represents a key step in making this material an integral part of the curriculum. The ACS will encourage use of the instructional packet not only by teachers, the primary targeted audience, but also by textbook authors and publishers. Incorporation of materials chemistry throughout introductory chemistry texts will be a certain sign that the discipline has entered the mainstream. As one of our committee members noted at the outset of this project, if 10% of all of the ex-... 

Although some progress has been made in the past couple of years, by and large the greening of mainstream American chemistry textbooks remains to be addressed. As of this writing, there are three mainstream American chemistry textbooks that have substantially incorporated sections on green chemistry ... 

Greening the Chemistry Lecture Curriculum Now is the Time to Infuse Existing Mainstream Textbooks with Green Chemistry... 

The context-based approach has already had a significant effect on school chemistry and science curricula. A comparison of school textbooks today with those of 20 years ago shows that, superficially at least, the mainstream has moved in the direction we have described in this chapter. 

---