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History and science collided at the University of Virginia on Friday, when the school announced the discovery of a hidden chemistry lab amid ongoing renovations of its historic Rotunda building.
The room offers a glimpse into the way science was taught in the mid-19th century, as well as to the role of Thomas Jefferson – who founded the university in 1819 – in facilitating the shift from religion to science as a central principle of higher education in the United States.
"It really is the beginning of the teaching of science" as fundamental, said Jody Lahendro, a supervisory historic preservation architect for UVA. "The Enlightenment, changing the viewpoint of the world."
[...] "This may be the oldest intact example of early chemical education in this country," said Brian Hogg, senior historic preservation planner in the Office of the Architect for the University.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by sudo rm -rf on Thursday October 22 2015, @09:10AM
It is maybe the oldest example found of students actually making *practical* experiments as part of their chemistry studies, instead of only sitting and listening to theoretical stuff. After all, they found a hearth and four workbenches, not only one.
Look at the time frame: It is believed that the discovered lab is from the mid-19th century. At this time, the periodic table of elements did not yet exist (Dmitri Mendeleev published it in 1869). John Dalton's theory that all matter is made of atoms "which are the smallest constituents of matter that cannot be broken down without losing the basic chemical and physical properties of that matter" (quote stolen from here [wikipedia.org]) was only a few decades old and not yet proven or even widely accepted.
If that laboratory teaches anything "about US science education" remains questionable, though. The sample size is a bit low to draw any conclusions...
(Score: 2) by jdavidb on Thursday October 22 2015, @01:44PM
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(Score: 3, Interesting) by AnonymousCowardNoMore on Thursday October 22 2015, @03:26PM
John Dalton's theory that all matter is made of atoms "which are the smallest constituents of matter that cannot be broken down without losing the basic chemical and physical properties of that matter" (quote stolen from here) was only a few decades old and not yet proven or even widely accepted
Leucippus came up with that in the 5th century BC. (It is also often attributed to Democritus, who expanded on Leucippus's work.) Dalton's work is no doubt important and he had a vastly better grasp of chemical principles thanks to two millenia worth of research. But it pays to know that ideas have in most cases been around for a very long time before the question could be solved experimentally.
As another example, consider the idea that organisms undergo changes to their form which are inherited by their offspring. Some of these persist into future generations, while others die out. Add to this that, based on the presence of fossil sea life far inland, as well as the fact that all life requires water, all land animals, including man appear to have developed from fish. This idea is due not to Darwin, but to Anaximander (died 545 BC) and his successor Anaximenes . It played a part in Anaximenes's most important contribution to philosphy (which was not immediately recognised), the idea of conservation laws.
Of course I don't doubt that even earlier people had thought of these things—their thoughts just didn't survive as well before writing was common. Or their writings were lost with their civilisations.
(Score: 2) by sudo rm -rf on Thursday October 22 2015, @03:47PM
Your're absolutely right, but you did forget to mention Platon, who was also an atomist and wrote some really crazy stuff about the five elements. I found it very hard to read, even in its modern translation. (Archimedes, on the other hand, was quite fun and easy to understand, I think it is because he was an engineer by profession and as such had the bonus of describing clear and well understood concepts, opposed to self-contradicting ideas (sorry, Plato)).
Anyway, I think the main difference between Dalton's and Leucippus/Democritus approach to the "atomic question" is that the former used experiments and scientific method while the latter did no empirical research but only gedankenexperiments. But please don't get me wrong, I don't want to play down the achievements of the olden wise men.
(Score: 2) by AnonymousCowardNoMore on Thursday October 22 2015, @04:59PM
Of course think I did stress that I was talking about who formulated an idea rather than who found a way to test it. We credit, after all, Einstein for the things he came up with* based on prior observations even though there was no way to test them at the time. I'm sure you can think of other examples. Experiment is the ultimate measure of physical theory but without the theoreticians we would not have theories to test.
And those I mentioned did give reasons for their conclusions, which were thus founded in observation even though they could not be fully tested. Dalton similarly had (better) reasons for his conclusions but could not prove them definitively. Some other philosophers (*cough*Pyrrhon*cough*) were indeed just running an intellectual circus.
I'm not the best guy to ask, I should add. My understanding of philosophy is shamefully shallow.
* As well as things Lorentz and Poincaré came up with. This whole "Great Man" textbook view of history leaves a bad taste in my mouth.