Mathematics is fundamental to science because a great many aspects of science are best described and elucidated using mathematical tools. Lack of preparation in mathematics hampers many students’ efforts to learn science and prevents many other students from pursuing science at all. Consequently, mathematics education is important not only for mathematicians, but for all scientists. […]

I recently had the pleasure of listening to a talk, “Scientific Challenges in Sustainable Energy Technology”, by Nathan S. Lewis, California Institute of Technology. Lewis summarized data on energy resources and provided his analysis of their implications for the future of human society. He has provided slides, text, and a streaming audio/video version at his […]

 
If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be. Thomas Jefferson, letter to Charles Yancey, 1816
Thinking is hard. Writing is hard because it requires thinking. Both thinking and writing involve time and concentration-commodities that these days are hard to come […]

Als Ik Kan is the message in the logo of Gustav Stickley, creator of the Mission style of furniture. Loosely translated from Flemish it means “to the best of my ability”. Jim D. Roach, Emporia State University, KS uses Als Ik Kan as the theme for his call for greater dedication by everyone, teachers, students, […]

According to Gresham’s Law, bad money will drive out good money (1). In economics the law applies to situations where two things of different value are either perceived to have equal value or are required to be accepted as having equal value. For example, if a government requires that all coins of the same denomination […]

The National Academy of Sciences and the Institute of Medicine have just published a book, Science, Evolution, and Creationism that should be read by all scientists and teachers of science (1). An eight-page brochure summarizes the book and is an excellent way to stimulate and inform discussions of evolution, creationism, and “intelligent design”.
The brochure describes […]

We’ll Make You a Better Teacher:
Learning from Guitar Techniques
by Thomas J. Greenbowe, Chair, ACS Division of Chemical Education
Last June our Division of Chemical Education held a strategic planning session, and I was on the committee that reviewed comments and questions submitted in response to a survey of DivCHED members. Two questions really struck me:
I have […]

The theme for this year’s Chemists Celebrate Earth Day is Water—Streaming Chemistry. As we do every February, the JCE editorial staff has collected a broad range of articles in support of that theme. We hope this issue, and others we have done in the past, are really useful for those who are planning Earth Day […]

from Erica K. Jacobsen, JCE High School Editor
The unofficial Marine Corps motto that is the title of this column was brought into popular culture by the gravelly voice of Clint Eastwood in the 1980s film “Heartbreak Ridge”. I don’t claim to have anywhere near the constitution or character of a Marine, but the motto has […]

The title is a variation of the motto on the coat of arms of the state of Michigan: Si quaeris peninsulam amoenam, circumspice. Looking about the Journal of Chemical Education is perhaps more complicated than seeking and viewing a pleasant peninsula, but it can be equally rewarding. Because this issue marks the beginning of the […]