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Janet D. Stemwedel (whose nom de blog is Dr. Free-Ride) is an assistant professor of philosophy at San Jose State University. Before becoming a philosopher, she earned a Ph.D. in physical chemistry. Email her at dr.freeride@gmail.com.

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Chemistry:

The women who taught me science.

Since March is Women's History Month, I thought it might be appropriate to recognize some women who were a part of my history -- namely, the women who taught me chemistry and physics. (This shouldn't be interpreted as a slight...

The line between chemistry and physics during the chemical revolution.

Following up on the earlier discussion here and at Chad's about the "fundamental difference" between chemistry and physics, I wanted to have a look at a historical moment that might provide some insight into the mood along the border between...

Drawing lines between chemistry and physics.

Over at Uncertain Principles, Chad Orzel tries to explain the fundamental difference between physics and chemistry: My take on this particular question is that there's a whole hierarchy of (sub)fields, based on what level of abstraction you work at. The...

Temptations that might become irresistable

... as a result of the incessant drive to make learning too darn safe. Not that this is a terribly new development (I wrote about this sort of thing here and here), but it appears that anxieties about terrorists and...

Does valuable information want to be free?

The November 5, 2007 issue of Chemical & Engineering News has an editorial by Rudy M. Baum [UPDATE: notbehind a paywall; apparently all the editorials are freely accessible online] looking at the "Google model" for disseminating information. Baum writes:...

Rudy Baum responds to questions about C&E News.

In response to my open letter to the ACS, Rudy Baum, the Editor in Chief of Chemical & Engineering News, emailed me some information which I am posting here with his kind permission:...

Dispatch from SERMACS: surreal moments.

As mentioned before, I'm currently at the Southeast Regional Meeting of the American Chemical Society (or SERMACS if you're in a hurry) in Greenville, South Carolina. I got in last night, just in time to catch the last 25 minutes...

An open letter to the ACS.

Like Revere and the folks at The Scientist, I received the series of emails from "ACS insider" questioning the way the American Chemical Society is running its many publications -- and in particular, how compensation of ACS executives (and close...

C&E News on writing journal articles.

Since scientist-on-scientist communication is a longstanding topic of interest in these parts, I wanted to point out a recent (August 13, 2007) article in Chemical & Engineering News (behind a paywall, but definitely worth locating a library with a subscription)...

How big a risk is my laser printer?

On the basis of this article about emissions from laser printers, our department administrator came by this week to take my HP 1200 series LaserJet away. I said I wanted to keep it....

Passing thoughts about conference presentations.

As I mentioned in my last post, I was sucked out of the blogosphere for much of last week by the International Society for the Philosophy of Chemistry (ISPC) 2007 Summer Symposium . I did not live-blog the conference. I...

Brief remarks on 'physics first' and high school science.

Chad and Rob have already noted this piece of news about soon-to-be-published research indicating that the order in which high school students are taught physics, chemistry, and biology makes very little difference to their performance in science classes at the...

Fun with paper chromatography.

Make cool art with ink, water, porous paper, and intermolecular forces.

Basic concepts: refrigeration.

My last post for the basic concepts series involved phases of matter and transformations from one phase to another. This post will look at how a phase change can be put to practical use in a common household appliance --...

Online source for hands-on chemistry (for kids).

Since Sandra has posted links to sites with brainy games for kids*, and Karmen is working on her list of science education web sites for children, I thought I'd mention one of my favorite online destinations for kid-strength chemistry. Luddite...

Science in the courtroom: is 'made from sugar, so it tastes like sugar' false advertising?

The July 9 issue of Chemical & Engineering News (alas, behind a paywall -- but worth checking to see if your library has an institutional subscription) has an interesting piece [1] on the recently-settled trial in which the makers of...

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