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Supplementary Materials
The number of supplementary materials that
accompany print articles has grown and also become more varied.
The new guidelines for lab experiments call for
supplementary materials in most cases, so that the actual materials used
in lab can be made available. The From Past Issues column
edited by Kathryn Williams and many of the technology
columns frequently have supplements for JCE
Online.
An especially interesting supplement that we would
like to call to the attention of readers is a collection of
videos from the E. O. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory,
based on interviews with nuclear chemists who have discovered
and studied the heaviest elements. These movies accompany
the Viewpoints article, "Chemistry of the Heaviest
Elements-One Atom at a Time" by Darleane C. Hoffman and
Diana M. Lee.
The titles of the movies are listed below; illustrative
stills are shown at the bottom of the page. Researchers
involved with the segments about Lawrencium include Robert
Silva, Torbjorn Sikkeland, Matti Nurmia, Robert Latimer,
and Albert Ghiorso, all of whom are from the Lawrence
Berkeley Laboratory. (QuickTime 3 is needed in order to view the
videos; it can be downloaded free from
http://www.apple.com.)
- A Brief Note about Plutonium, by Glenn Seaborg
- Plutonium and Why It Was Kept a Secret
- The Prediction of the Actinide Series, by
Glenn Seaborg
- First Chemical Separation of Lawrencium at Lawrence Radiation Laboratory in 1970
- The HILAC or Heavy-Ion Linear Accelerator
- Discovery of Lawrencium
- How To Collect Lawrencium Atoms
- The Discovery of Element 106-Finally
- The Naming of Element 106
- The Limits of Discovering the Heavy Elements
- What Good Is a Heavy Element?
To see these videos, view the Supplements of
http://JChemEd.chem.wisc.edu/Journal/Issues/1999/Mar/abs331.html.
People: Glenn Seaborg
Glenn Seaborg, frequent
contributor and faithful supporter of this
Journal, died February 25, 1999, at his
home in Lafayette, California, at the age of 86. At the
Fall 1998 ACS Meeting in Boston he suffered a serious fall
following a stroke, from which he never recovered. One of
his last photographs, taken the previous day at a
Journal luncheon, appears on page 1360 of the November 1998
issue. His commentary on his long career in chemistry and
education appears on page 1520 of the December 1998 issue.
Seaborg was a Nobel laureate, discoverer of elements,
scientific advisor to presidents, former chancellor of the
University of California, former chairman of the Atomic
Energy Commission, chairman of the steering committee of
the CHEM Study project, founder of Lawrence Hall of
Science, , the list goes on and on. He was at the same time a
passionate supporter of education.
Seaborg published fourteen articles in the
Journal between 1951 and 1998. He was interviewed in 1975 by
David Ridgway as part of the Impact series
(JCE 1975, 52, 70), and that interview is highly recommended reading (see supplement to this article). He received the 1994 ACS George C. Pimentel Award in
Chemical Education; his award address was published in the
ACS Division of Chemical Education's CHED
Newsletter, Fall 1995.
Memorial articles with details of his life and his
scientific contributions have appeared in The New York
Times (Saturday, February 27, 1999, page 1) and
Chemical & Engineering News (March 8, 1999, page 29). But there is also the
spirit of the man, what he believed in, what he tried to do,
what he hoped he had accomplished. A sense of that can be
gained from the excerpts that are reprinted below, taken first
from the Impact interview and then from the award address.
Ridgway: On reflection, now, out of your many contributions to
chemistry, is there one that you feel has had more of an impact
than others?
Seaborg: The discovery of plutonium would answer that
question. The impact there is probably nearly as great as any single
chemical discovery.
Ridgway: What was the state of the "art" in your field when
you first decided to bend your energies in this direction?
Seaborg: In nuclear science? Very crude. I mean we had
difficulty even making the simplest Geiger counter work. This facet
alone was always a challenge.
Ridgway: What do you look for in a young person who wishes
to work with you in your research program?
Seaborg: Certainly I try to identify intelligence and creativity
and very importantly, industry, that is the willingness to work hard
which leads to dedication.
Ridgway: ...research and teaching or research
versus teaching. Do you consider in your own pursuits in the academic life a
dichotomy between teaching and research?
Seaborg: Definitely not! I think they go together very well. I
teach freshman chemistry and it's a joy to meet my freshman
chemistry sections. It gives me a better perspective even though it's at
the beginning level. In addition, the fact that I'm conducting
research helps (in my opinion) freshman chemistry. As your readers
well know, freshman chemistry is a sophisticated and complicated
subject these days.
Pimentel Award Address:
Regarding the CHEM Study project: Although my heavy
schedule as Chancellor of the University of California, Berkeley, and
numerous other commitments should have made me decline this
added responsibility, the unusual circumstances of our meeting and
the ardor of the group led to my somewhat bewildered acceptance.
Report of the National Commission on Excellence in
Education (1983):
If an unfriendly foreign power had attempted to impose on
America the mediocre educational performance that exists today, we
might well have viewed it as an act of war. As it stands, We have
allowed this to happen to ourselves
Discussing Great Explorations in Math and Science
(GEMS):
It is an unfortunate fact, borne out by research and much
anecdotal experience, that by the time they reach high school most
students have already decided whether or not they like chemistry,
and whether or not they are good at it.
In Summary:
Having served in many capacities, educational and
governmental over my career, I have no illusions about the complexities
involved in implementing change. Yet there is really no choice if we are
to survive and thrive as a nation. We must shine a strong spotlight
on education, with special and lasting emphasis on science and
technology, and the real-world connections so apparent to us in
chemistry and all the sciences.
Lab Safety Training
The Laboratory Safety Workshop announces
laboratory safety training in six locations this summer. The 24-hour
short courses are for secondary and college/university science
educators. The dates and locations are:
June 16-19: TBA, Minneapolis, MN
June 23-26: Southwest Texas State Univ., San Marcos, TX
July 7-10: University of Nevada-Reno, Reno, NV
July 14-17: Northeastern University, Boston, MA
August 3-6: College of Charleston, Charleston, SC
August 16-19: TBA, Seattle, WA
For further information contact Laboratory Safety
Workshop, 192 Worcester Road, Natick, MA 01760-2552;
phone: 508/647-1900; fax: 508/647-0062; email:
lswpfm@aol.com.
Proposal Deadlines
National Science Foundation
Division of Undergraduate Education (DUE)
- Course, Curriculum, and Laboratory
Improvement (CCLI) June 7, 1999
- NSF Collaboratives for Excellence in Teacher
Preparation (CETP)
Preliminary proposals, Track 1 May 1, 1999
Formal proposals, Track 1 September 1, 1999
- DUE online 1999 guidelines, NSF 99-53
available at http://www.nsf.gov/cgi-bin/getpub?nsf9953
For further information about NSF DUE programs consult the
DUE Web site at http://www.ehr.nsf.gov/EHR/DUE/start.htm.
Program deadlines are at http://www.ehr.nsf.gov/EHR/DUE/programs/programs.htm
. Contact the DUE Information Center at phone:
703/306-1666; email: undergrad@nsf.gov.
The Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation, Inc.
- Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Awards Program:
November 16,
1998
- Henry Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Awards Program:
July 1, 1999
- New Faculty Awards Program: May 14, 1999
- Faculty Start-up Grants for Undergraduate
Institutions: May 14, 1999
- Scholar/Fellow Program for Undergraduate
Institutions: July 1, 1999
- Special Grant Program in the Chemical Sciences:
July 15, 1999
- Postdoctoral Program in Environmental
Chemistry: February 26, 1999
Further information may be obtained from The Camille and
Henry Dreyfus Foundation, Inc., 555 Madison Avenue, Suite 1305,
New York, NY 10022; phone: 212/753-1760; email:
admin@dreyfus.org;
www: http://www.dreyfus.org/
Research Corporation
- Cottrell College Science Awards: May 15 and
November 15
- Cottrell Scholars: First regular business day in September
- Partners in Science: December 1 (the final year for
this program is summer 1999)
- Research Opportunity Awards: May 1 and October 1
- Research Innovation Awards: May 1
Further information may be obtained from Research
Corporation, 101 North Wilmot Road, Suite 250, Tucson, AZ
85711-3332; phone: 520/571-1111; fax: 520/571-1119;
email: awards@rescorp.org; www: http://www.rescorp.org
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