Introduction

Chemists have used textbooks as undergraduates for nearly two century. They usually recall their major textbooks with affection and were doubtlessly influenced by the way chemistry was presented in them. Some of these books are known simply by the surname of the author(s) e.g. Perkin and Kipping, Mann and Saunders, Glasstone and Lewis, Moore, Finar, Roberts and Caserio, and above all, Cotton and Wilkinson. At the same time, textbooks have evolved over time and especially in the last fifty years. The way that chemistry is presented in current textbooks is very different from the standard texts of the 1940s and 1950s. This meeting will explore the influence of some famous textbooks and the evolution of the chemistry textbook in physical, organic, inorganic and analytical chemistry since the mid twentieth century, with a backwards glance at one of the most famous popularisations of chemistry, Jane Marcet's Conversations on Chemistry.

Downloads

• Under the Influence2.doc

Venue

The Chemistry Centre

The Council Room, The Chemistry Centre, Burlington House, Piccadilly, London, W1J 0BA, United Kingdom

Contact information

Prof Bill Griffith
Department of Chemistry, IMperial College, London, SW7 2AZ, United Kingdom
Contact us by email

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