A little (alchemy and) chemistry and related sciences for humanities students

general courses

The lectures will introduce humanities students to chemistry (including general, inorganic, organic and physical chemistry) and give them an idea of other, related sciences (physics, mathematics, geology, biology, especially the physical chemistry of elementary particles, nuclear chemistry, geochemistry, biochemistry). The aim of the course is to show how chemistry evolved compared to the exact and natural sciences and how it overlaps with the humanities (history, cultural anthropology, religious studies, psychology, sociology etc.) and what people can use it for. The lectures present chemistry in the broader perspective of our cognition (at the border of rationality and metaphysics) and of the whole world and its history of 13.8 billion years.

Expanded syllabus:

http://www.chem.uw.edu.pl/people/WGrochala/AL_syllabus.pdf

(1) The humanities vs. the natural and exact sciences. Chemistry’s hierarchic structure and its place in the science pyramid. Scientific revolutions. Important questions and unanswered questions. The morality of science. (2) The emergence of the Universe as we know it. The birth of atoms. How the Solar System came into being. The origins of chemical elements. (3) The atom and the indivisibility of particles of matter. Models of the atom. Democritus and Dalton. What do atoms “look like” and how big are they? (4) The Periodic Table of Chemical Elements. One discoverer or many? Why do we need the Periodic Table? (5) Chemical molecules. What are chemical bonds? Chemistry’s mission. Self-organization. Aesthetics of chemistry. Symmetry. Astrochemistry. (6) Chemistry of life. Chemical composition of the Universe, the earth’s crust and living organisms. Why carbon? The emergence of life. Ionizing radiation. (7) Evolution of matter continued. Homo sapiens. “Blood ties”. Mitochondrial and chromosomal DNA. The emergence of science and religion. (8) The history of civilization as the history of the development of materials chemistry and military science. The stone, copper, bronze, iron, gunpowder, coal and water, and silicon ages. Chemistry’s culture-building role. (9) Alchemy as the art of transformation. Holism. “Elements”, planets, stones, symbols, numbers. Alchemy as a “column of the heavens”. Magical numbers in the past and in contemporary chemistry. (10) Chemistry of the brain. Endorphins – happy hormones. Neurotransmitters. Melatonin – sleep hormone. Oxytocin. (11) Chemistry of love. Proteins in kisses. Molecular signalling and identification. When did the sexes emerge? Body revolution – sex hormones. Cholesterol and pheromones. “Chemistry’s sex-mission”. (12) Alcoholic fermentation and delirium tremens. Water, methanol, ethanol. Alkaloids and dosed poisons. Narcotics and antidepressants. (13) Chemistry and the Polish cause. Polish chemistry and chemistry in Poland. Einstein’s grandchildren. Chemistry as a “fulfilled science”. Nobel Prizes for Great Theories. The explosion of synthetic chemistry. (14) The world 13.798 ± 0.037 billion years after the Big Bang (and shortly before the Big Collapse?). Science as a language. Antinomies. Ockham’s razor. Demythologization and desacralization of matter and life. The terror of science and “loss of ties with the masses”. The crisis of the human psyche in the 20th century. The sinusoid of history and New Romanticism. (15) Practical illustration of lectures 6, 8, 9 and 11.

The estimated total number of hours students will have to devote to achieve the learning outcomes planned for the course: 45 h (including 30 organized hours, 1 exam hour, 14 hours of individual work).

[1] Theodore Gray "Wielka księga pierwiastków, z których zbudowany jest Wszechświat", wyd. Bellona, Warszawa 2011.

[2] Bill Bryson "Krótka historia prawie wszystkiego", wyd. Zysk i S-ka, Poznań 2009.

[3] Mircea Eliade "Kowale i alchemicy", wyd. Aletheia, Warszawa 2007.

[4] Richard Holmes "Wiek cudów: jak odkrywano piękno i grozę nauki ", wyd. Prószyński i S-ka, Warszawa 2010.

After completing the course the student:

K_W10 basic knowledge on the latest achievements of interdisciplinary research methods in the humanities and the social, exact and natural sciences

K_U01 selecting and interpreting information from different textual, iconographic and electronic sources

K_U05 basic skills in using interdisciplinary research methods and tools to analyse phenomena of contemporary culture

K_K01 understanding the need for continual education after graduation

K_K03 understanding the dynamics of scientific, cultural and social development and keeping up with new research methods and paradigms

- Defines the basic concepts of chemistry (atom, molecule, chemical reaction) and relates them to the concepts of physics (elementary particle, elementary process)

- Chemical reaction illustrated by the equation

- Recognizes the granular structure of matter at different levels of self-organization

- Describes the development of chemistry to other science subjects

- Explains the creation, history, role and mission of civilizing chemistry in the past and in the modern world

- Distinguishes, classifies and compares the basic subfields of modern chemistry

- Analyzes the relationship between chemistry and the humanities

- Judge the current stage of development of chemistry as a science of nature

Continuous assessment (current preparation for classes and activities), term (about one selected for elemental chemical in any literary form), an oral examination. Exam requirements: knowledge of the history of the discovery, characteristics and practical applications of one selected chemical element