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My claim in the Commentary, “What’s Wrong with Cookbooks?” (1), is that tested procedures, “recipes”, if you will, are useful. I do not claim that they are always used wisely, nor do I claim that they should be used exclusively. Perhaps one reason for the present disagreement is that Monteyne and Cracolice (2), and the authors cited in their paper, are concerned mainly with laboratory programs in general chemistry, while I am concerned with laboratory programs in organic chemistry. I believe that the organic lab, with the help of tested procedures, can provide students with a great variety of interesting experiences. The prefatory pages in the sixth edition of my laboratory manual, Techniques and Experiments for Organic Chemistry, present more of my ideas about the components of an interesting and effective organic laboratory program (3). Literature Cited- Ault, A. J. Chem. Educ. 2002, 79, 1177.
- Monteyne, K.; Cracolice, M. S. J. Chem. Educ. 2004, 81, 1559–1560.
- Ault, A. Techniques and Experiments for Organic Chemistry, 6th ed.; University Science Books: Sausalito, CA, 1998.
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