The British Society for the History of Science

Element of Controversy Chang, Hasok and Jackson, Catherine. 2007. An Element of Controversy: The Life of Chlorine in Science, Medicine, Technology and War (Cambridge: British Society for the History of Science), 407 pages. ISBN 978-0-906450-01-7 Download full volume (not available) introduction to the volume Purchase softcover paper edition (order from our print-on-demand service)

Reviews

"The high quality of [this] publication reinforces the ideas that learning is doing, that there is a continuity between students and experts, and that undergraduate students can produce research worthy of publication." "The book represents a useful piece of historical research and may also serve as a model for similar projects by other educators, both in chemistry and related disciplines."
- Journal of Chemical Education

“This book is more than an excellent discussion of the various controversies that have surrounded the element chlorine since it was discovered in the 18th century. ... Beyond serving as a historical analysis, the book deserves attention because it was created by groups of undergraduate students in a series of classes at University College, London, from 2000 to 2005. Each year the students passed their work along to the next group, so that the final version was a collaborative effort. The result demonstrates not just an excellent historical resource but also a highly successful educational experiment."
-Choice (May 2008) 

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