For your summer reading pleasure this month's issue provides a wide range of subjects and activities. Our lead article is a tribute to a chemist-composer, Lejaren A. Hiller, Jr., as well as an examination of the interesting relationship between chemistry (and science) and music. Like Hiller, Wamser and Wamser (page 601) love both chemistry and music, and this comes through loud and clear in their historical perspective on Hiller's work.

Much of the rest of the issue impinges on the chemistry curriculum in one form or another. Rettich, Bailey, Frank, and Frick (page 638) describe an integrated first- and second-year curriculum being developed at Illinois Wesleyan University that includes all subdisciplines of chemistry. They describe ways to teach topics such as acids and bases so that the perspectives of (for example) organic and inorganic chemistry are integrated and contemporaneous. Those contemplating a popular reform, group work or cooperative learning, will be interested in Birk and Kurtz's program (page 615) for training teaching assistants using cooperative learning. Surely TAs who have participated in cooperative groups to develop their own techniques for handling discussion and lab sessions will be able to use group learning to better advantage.

Several years ago the ACS Division of Chemical Education set up a Task Force on the General Chemistry Curriculum. With support from the National Science Foundation and others, the task force has been quite active. In addition to the summative reports published here (pages 617-636) on four areas in which general chemistry teaching can be improved, they have contributed many Forum columns in earlier issues of the Journal and have published much of their work in New Directions for General Chemistry: A Resource for Curricular Change; Baird W. Lloyd, ed.

Our current approach to teaching electron configurations of the atoms is largely based on quantum theory Because of the mathematics required, quantum theory is not accessible to even well prepared introductory students, except in a qualitative, often confusing, version. Gillespie, Spencer, and Moog (page 617) provide a new way of introducing the idea of electron configurations that is based on experimental data instead of theoretical quantum numbers. Beginning with the periodic table they develop the inference that electrons must be arranged in shells. They then use ionization potentials and photoelectron spectra to develop further the ideas of shell and subshell. This provides a radically different approach that is at the same time based more firmly on experiment and more accessible to students.

Gillespie, Spencer, and Moog (page 622) describe an approach to molecular structure that is closely related to the VSEPR theory originally developed by Gillespie and Nyholm, but does not depend on the orbitals or quantum mechanics. Their electron domain model is based on electron spin and electron pairs but not orbitals and provides an interesting way for students to be introduced to the idea of structure. Birk and Abbassian (page 636) provide a way of visualizing either orbitals or electron domains that uses readily available, inexpensive plastic eggs and is a nice complement to Gillespie, Spencer, and Moog's article.

Spencer, Moog, and Gillespie's third article based on the work of the Task Force on the General Chemistry Curriculum begins on page 627. It develops the idea of average valence electron energy and applies it to determining electronegativity values. In the fourth article in this Forum collection, Spencer, Moog, and Gillespie (page 631) propose that students can much more readily assimilate the ideas of reaction thermodynamics if changes in enthalpy, entropy, and free energy are all developed in terms of complete atomization of all reactants followed by putting the atoms back together in a different way to form products. Their tables of enthalpies, entropies, and free energies of atomization will be extremely useful to anyone who wants to adopt this approach.

Maier (page 643) describes a pilot program in polymer science designed to interest minority students in polymer science and chemistry. This is a modular program that could be incorporated into a variety of curricula. A different approach to curriculum and outreach is the combined biology/chemistry van program described by Craney, Mazzeo, and Lord (page 646). And yet more outreach for younger children is described by Nolan and Gish (page 651).

Information technology can support and aid curriculum reform. The abstract from JCE: Software is for a CD-ROM that summarizes the work of an NSF-supported materials science curriculum development project carried out by Lisensky and Ellis (page 667). The Computer Series includes a proposed addition to the typical physical chemistry curriculum by Williams, Minarik, and Nibler (page 608); it is possible because microcomputers can now do ab initio molecular orbital calculations with reasonable speed.

Demonstrations have long been a part of the curriculum. They are always popular and usually instructive. Beall (page 641) reports on a conference that considered the pros and cons of demonstrations as a teaching tool. Tested Demonstrations includes a means for estimating equilibrium constants based on the odor of a solution by Anderson, Buckley, and Niewahner (page 639) as well as a way of making ion exchange visible devised by Driscoll and Villaescuesa (page 640).

A very important and time consuming aspect of curriculum development is incorporation of new laboratory experiences for students. Mabrouk (page A 149) describes a laboratory that brings biochemistry to the fore. Sundback (page 669) shows how high school students can test for lead in the environment, and Rees (page 670) shows how homeowners can easily test for lead in paint. Elderd, Kildahy, and Berka (page 675) provide a way to use modern GC equipment to show students how to determine whether a fire may have been arson. In addition to these there are six more new experiments that you may want to consider incorporating into your curriculum.

A whole summer's worth of reading in one issue! Find something you really like and use it in your fall classes. Or, better yet, find a dozen things and use them!