Logic, History, and the Chemistry Textbook: II. Can We Unmuddle the Chemistry Textbook?

The second of a three-part series based on the author's keynote lectures for the 1995 NEACT conference, this lecture applies the classification of chemical concepts and models given in Lecture I to a variety of topics related to the undergraduate chemistry curriculum. In particular, it illustrates how paying attention to whether a subject is being treated at the molar, molecular, or electrical level of discourse can help to eliminate logically-flawed definitions and concepts, help to revise those which are historically outdated, and help to resolve current debates in the educational literature about the relative merits of competing approaches to a given subject.