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This book is almost as interesting for the way it was written as it is for the subject matter. As the title suggests, the element chlorine has been the subject of one controversy after another from the time it was discovered in the late 18th century down to the present day. The book does an excellent job of covering these disputes, beginning with the arguments about whether or not chlorine was truly an element, a controversy that played a significant role in the early stages of the Chemical Revolution. The use of chlorine as a bleaching or disinfecting agent was recognized early, but both of these valuable applications were controversial and slow to be widely implemented. One factor that contributed to the delay in the adoption of chlorine as a disinfecting agent was the unwillingness of some in the medical profession to be willing to take advice from “mere” chemists. The use of chlorine as a war gas in World War I was contentious at the time and remains so to the present day. This book not only provides a wealth of information about the use of poison gas in World War I but also includes a fascinating discussion of the attempts by the U.S. Chemical Warfare Service to justify continued funding after the War. To drum up support, the Chemical Warfare Service attempted to popularize the use of low concentrations of chlorine to prevent infections. Many prominent figures, including President Calvin Coolidge, voluntarily used these “chlorine chambers” in hopes of preventing influenza. The book also covers more recent controversies, such as the use of chlorine-containing herbicides in the Vietnam War and the disputes that erupted when Rachel Carson published her book, Silent Spring (1). Probably the most innovative aspect of this book is that it represents original research created by successive groups of undergraduate students who were taking a final-year class at University College, London. From 2000 to 2005, each student taking the course did an independent research project that was related to a common theme, chlorine. At the end of each semester, the students gathered everything that they had created—bibliographies, rough drafts, correspondence, and photocopies—to pass along to the next class for further development. The idea of passing material from one class to another is certainly facilitated by the wide-spread use of electronic resources, ranging from simple word processors to wikis. Hasok Chang, who originated the project, calls this a “directed-community” model of research–teaching integration. The high quality of the resulting publication reinforces the ideas that learning is doing, that there is a continuity between students and experts, and that undergraduate students can produce research worthy of publication. Chang, and his collaborator, Catherine Jackson, identify several advantages to their approach. Students gained a better understanding of real research works by participating in the development of original knowledge, each person was accountable for understanding the ideas of others, and even small contributions could be valuable to the overall research. The potential for publication was also a very strong motivator. Chang reports that he plans to continue this approach, but that in the future he may include students at earlier stages of their academic careers so that they may have more time to work on the project. He also hopes to apply the technique to other formats and other areas of history. The book represents a useful piece of historical research and may also serve as a model for similar projects by other educators, both in chemistry and related disciplines. Literature Cited- Carson, Rachel. Silent Spring; Houghton Mifflin: Boston, 1962.
Reviewer’s NoteI became aware of this book when I reviewed it for Choice. I thought that the pedagogical applications were so interesting that I asked to write a longer review for the Journal of Chemical Education in order to share these ideas with other chemistry teachers. While writing this review, I was disappointed to find that this book can only be obtained through Amazon in the U.K. (accessed May 2008) or through the British Society for the History of Science (accessed May 2008). I hope that this lack of availability will not dissuade my colleagues learning about this innovative teaching method.
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