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Teaching mathematics to chemists

DR D.F. BALL (Constantine College of Technology, Middlesbrough)
T.H. WISE (Constantine College of Technology, Middlesbrough)

Education + Training

ISSN: 0040-0912

Article publication date: 1 April 1966

543

Abstract

There have been large changes in the content of chemistry courses during the post‐war period, particularly at an advanced level. It is believed that the relevance of the existing mathematics course to the changing chemistry syllabus and to what industry expects of the trained chemist is sometimes neglected. This has led (in Constantine College) to a reconsideration of the adequacy of syllabuses in mathematics for existing advanced chemistry courses and to a consideration of the type of course which would be attractive to the industrial chemist. The authors have been supported by a working party and the ideas suggested here result largely from its findings. The object of this paper is to put forward some views as a first approximation in the hope that this will stimulate discussion and criticism of the existing situation. In November of 1964 a two‐day course was held in Newcastle on the teaching of physical chemistry. The lecturers at this meeting were mainly from university departments plus one industrialist and one former university lecturer now at a government research institute. Letters were sent to seven of these lecturers, who were asked what mathematics they considered appropriate for a modern undergraduate chemistry course. Most of the replies indicated what mathematics was being taught to chemistry undergraduates in the department with which the writer was concerned. In addition some information was volunteered by one other university department. In the non‐industrial replies topics were mentioned with a frequency indicated by the number following each topic — calculus (6), matrices and determinants (6), group theory and symmetry (4), vectors (4), differential equations (4) and probability (3). The industrial reply was quite different and discussed the need for the chemist to have an understanding of more industrial mathematics.

Citation

BALL, D.F. and WISE, T.H. (1966), "Teaching mathematics to chemists", Education + Training, Vol. 8 No. 4, pp. 164-167. https://doi.org/10.1108/eb015704

Publisher

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MCB UP Ltd

Copyright © 1966, MCB UP Limited

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