16 Bull. Hist. Chem. 13 - 14 (1992-93) Mhl, nd W. Mr, "I. rprtn fr All ld,"thd., Sn, Yr, 0, vl. ,44840. , 20, 8284. 26.0. nf, "thr Mr," n C. Gllp, d., Dictionary 0. It , hvr, dd n nf dtrl "I rh of Scientific Biography, Chrl Srbnr Sn, Yr, 4, Evr r? M Std th phthln," Chemistry, 6, vl. , 4. 49(2), 2, hh l rprntd n rfrn 24. 2.0. nf, "h l f th Intn n Sn vnt .0. nf, "rt pth," J. Chem. Educ., 2, ff Inrl Addr," J. Chem. Educ., 60, , 4640. 2,88. O.28.. nf, "A. W. Wlln nd th Iprnlv,". 2. I. Knt, Critique of Pure Reason, Clnl r, Yr, Chem. Educ., , . 00. 2.0. nf, The Names and Structures of Organic Mole- . E. Crr, Determinismus und Indeterminismus in der mod- cules, Wl, Yr, Y, 66 rprntd b Krr n 82 nd ernen Physik, Elndr trr Atbl, G6tbr, trnltd nt rt n 6. Ernt Crr, Determinism and Indeterminism in Modern Physics, 0.0. nf, Introduction to Organic Reaction Mechanisms, trnltd b 0. nf, Yl Unvrt r, vn, 6. MGrll, Yr, Y, 0, rprntd b Krr n 8 nd 4. Aftln, The History of the International Chemical Indus- trnltd nt Grn ( nd pn (4. try, trnltd b 0. Inf, Unvrt f nnlvn r, . K. Ybh, Chugoku no KagakuBunmei [China's Scientific hldlph, . Civilization], In Shtn, , 0. hl nf ltr tht rt t ftr lntr hl 2.0. Inf, "Gtrl r n Chtr,"h Science thr t Erlh, nd hl t Glfrd, h fndd Qr pr Teacher, 8, 48, 26. hl lld "A Chld Grdn" tht tll thrvn. .0.. nf, "dhdrl Gtr n n Er Inn 6. Wthr nd°. nf, "h Qntttv Evl rnr rrvd n th Shn," n Proc.14th Internat.Congr. Hist. tn f th Efft f drn ndn n th Strnth f b Sci., , , 22. Ad," J. Am. Chem. Soc., 6, 70, 0. 4. Mr pp, Diet for a Small Planet, llntn , .0. nf, From Vital Force to Structural Formulas, Yr, nth Annvrr Edtn, 82. htn Mffln, tn, 64 rprntd b th Arn Ch . rrd t rfrn 24. h lt ntn n th ttn l St, Whntn, .C., rprntd b th Chl fr hn Wln, th 8thntr Qr h "lvnl nd rt ndtn, hldlph, 2 Chn trnltn f th prvl pnd nt lvr." frt hlf pprd in Keshueshi Yikong [History of Science Translations], 6, 4, 84. 18. Ostwalds Klassiker der exakten Wissenschaften r r James J. Bohning is Professor of Chemistry Emeritus at nll pblhd b th fr f Wlhl Enlnn f pz. Wilkes University and Assistant Director at the Chemical ttl n th r ntn t b pblhd r thn 60 r ftr Heritage Foundation, 3401 Walnut St., Philadelphia, PA Otld dth. 19104-6228. 0. nf, d., Classics in the Theory of Chemical Combi- nation, vr, Yr, Y, 6, rprntd b Krr n 8. 20. W. C. th, The Rhetoric of Fiction, Unvrt f Ch BY WAY OF EXPLANATION r, Ch, 6. 2. 0. nf nd . W. Mll, "Str Efft f All Otto Theodor Benfey, Chemical Heritage Foundation Grp n th rt nd Snd Ad Inztn Cntnt f ,0 hnnthrln," J. Am. Chem. Soc., , , 222. When I began contemplating early retirement from Guilford, 22. E. Strn nd W. Strttn, Chemical Energy, nhld I expected to fade quietly into the background from the world blhn Cpn, Yr, 6. of activity and achievement. I never expected the recognition 2. E. Strn, t. l., Chemical Systems, MGr ll, given me, including the plans for this symposium, Arnold Th- Yr, 64. h th hrdvr prntn. "An xprntl ackray ' s invitation to join him at the Beckman Center for the prdr d n th dvlpnt f th b. Mbr f th History of Chemistry, and with it a most satisfying faculty CA tff prprd trl vrn f txt nd lbrtr d ... linkage with the University of Pennsylvania's Department of [hh] ... r d b vr 200 ... thr nd vr 0,000 the History and Sociology of Science. Now I am again tdnt." savoring the delights of being an editor - periodically seeing a 24. r rprntd lltn f dtrl, 0. nf, From mass of jumbled notes, manuscripts and pictures being miracu- Intellectual Scaffolding to the Elixir ofLife, nf, Grnbr, C, lously transformed by my excellent production staff, led by 8. Frances Kohler, into a pleasing product. 2.0. nf, "Arhbld Stt Cpr," n E. rbr, d., Not often does a group of academic and industrial research Great Chemists„ Intrn, Yr, 6, 0 nd C. chemists and educators, historians and government officials Gllp, d., Dictionary of Scientific Biography, Chrl Srbnr participate in the same gathering. Yet such a group was ll. t. Ch. 4 (2 17 gathered in Winston-Salem at the ACS Southeast Regional philosopher Carl Friedrich von Weizsacker in a conversation Meeting. Its diversity is a reflection of the motley jumble in my whose focus was the social responsibility of the scientist. brain. Until a few weeks ago I could find little to justify my Strange that chemistry texts continue to equate ancient science various enthusiasms, there seemed little to link them together. with Aristotle - probably to show how superior we are. If What could possibly unite my interest in Plato's Timaeus, the freshman chemistry began with the Timaeus, how different it Newton-Leibniz particle-monad controversy (in which my would be. sympathies were all on Leibniz's side), structural organic I have pursued the regular Platonic solids ever since that chemistry, chemical education, the Orient, the Society for conversation. Geometry is the clue to understanding organic Social Responsibility in Science, my fascination with the five chemistry, maybe to all of chemistry, and its organizing power regular solids - the tetrahedron, octahedron and so on - and had lured me into chemistry. The Platonic solids led me from searching for scientifically meaningful and sound definitions a tinker-toy-type construction set I had given my children, via of common yet not clearly understood chemical concepts? an 8th-century spherical incense burner with dodecahedral Three weeks ago in a most unexpected place I found the link design in Japan's imperial treasure house, to Tang era China, -rereading after several decades Nicholas Berdyaev, theRussian to the pottery of Iran, to Malayan basket makers and Euclid's religious philosopher (: Elements of Geometry, via Kepler's spacing of the planets and the speculations of Couper, Kekulé, Le Bel, van' t Hoff, and h ntrl rld, rdn t th Arttln nd ht np Alfred Werner, back to my field of structural organic chemis- tn, nt pntrtd b dvn fr t lv rdn t t n try and beyond it to the icosahedral geometry of the boron l nd nl bjt t th rnzd tn f xtrnl r. hydrides, intermetallic crystals and of tobacco mosaic and other viruses. He contrasts this with the Platonic view in which (1): I suggested to my teacher audience that there is today a great need for lateral as well as longitudinal research - something h ntrl rtd nd rndd n th prntrl th dvn like the distinction between external and internal history of nr nt th rld nd t dvn. h prl rld science. In addition to the usual prescription for making one's rtd n th rld f d nd th rld f d rt pn Gd. mark in science by concentrating and specializing, learning, as some say, more and more about less and less, there is a need for I have discovered that I am hopelessly anti-hierarchic, the netwoiters too, those who show how all the specialized objecting strongly to the notion that the material is fundamen- nuggets of expertise are interconnected. That, it seems to me, tally different from and inferior to the spiritual. I am, it seems, is the peculiar task of educators, to show the next generation the a neo-Platonist, seeing, and if not seeing then passionately beauty and grandeur of the edifice of knowledge, in order to searching for divine perfection, that of God, as Quakers would convince young people to participate in its construction and say, in my fellow human beings and in the world of nature. I elaboration. Mendeleev acted in this manner when he was am fascinated by harmony, mathematical pattern and geomet- facing the task of organizing his new textbook. He sought for ric form in chemistry and long to share my fascination with a rational basis for discussing the ever-growing list of elements students and with a wider public via the printed word. - and found it in the periodic recurrence of chemical properties. The unity of all creation, that pervasive interconnectedness, And similarly Kekule's insight into the cyclic structure of is stressed in Oriental thought. It characterized Leibniz's benzene, with all that followed from it in the clarifying and monads which seek to harmonize with each other, in contrast rationalizing of aromatic chemistry, The rise and astonishing to Newton's isolated lonely billiard-ball atoms that needed power of the organic-chemical and dye industries, arose, so superior guidance to dragoon them into acceptable behavior. Kekulé informs us, from a moment when his textbook writing There was an occasion some years ago when I made an did not progress and he dozed and daydreamed and saw the attempt to make a virtue of my dilettantism. In speaking to a dancing atoms link up in a ring. It doesn't matter if, as some group of high school teachers at a Dreyfus-Woodrow Wilson now contend, the atoms never danced and the dream never summer institute held at Princeton University, I called on them occurred.