Chemistry: Other Resources

This is the major professional association for chemists in the U.S. and offers many services for chemists. There are links to chemistry careers, meetings, news, education, and many other resources.

"The Analytical Sciences Digital Library, ASDL, is an NSF-funded digital library, accessed at www.asdlib.org, that collects, catalogs, links and publishes peer reviewed web-based discovery materials pertinent to innovations in curricular development and supporting technical resources in the analytical sciences."

"The Chemistry Collective is a collection of virtual labs, scenario-based learning activities, and concepts tests which can be incorporated into a variety of teaching approaches as pre-labs, alternatives to textbook homework, and in-class activities for individuals or teams. It is organized by a group of faculty and staff at Carnegie Mellon University for college and high school teachers who are interested in using, assessing, and/or creating engaging online activities for chemistry education."

Great site for troubling areas of chemistry that are often glossed over in textbooks. Designed for UK A-level students by Jim Clark, Cambridge grad and former Head of Chemistry and Head of Science at Truro School in Cornwall who has over 30 years teaching experience. Search by keyword or topic.

The CHF “seeks to advance the heritage and public understanding of the chemical and molecular sciences.” Their web site has links to their historical research library, their various educational programs, biographies of chemical scientists and other historical chemistry information.

"This site contains interactive 3D animations for some of the most important organic reactions covered during an undergraduate chemistry degree with supporting information on reactivity and spectroscopy."

"Isaac Newton, like Albert Einstein, is a quintessential symbol of the human intellect and its ability to decode the secrets of nature. Newton's fundamental contributions to science include the quantification of gravitational attraction, the discovery that white light is actually a mixture of immutable spectral colors, and the formulation of the calculus. Yet there is another, more mysterious side to Newton that is imperfectly known, a realm of activity that spanned some thirty years of his life, although he kept it largely hidden from his contemporaries and colleagues. We refer to Newton's involvement in the discipline of alchemy, or as it was often called in seventeenth-century England, 'chymistry.'"

Chemistry history from the ACS. Includes processes, tools, businesses and more.

At News@nature.com you will find breaking news, extended features and analysis, acclaimed columnists, plus blogs and multimedia specials. News@nature.com also hosts news stories from Nature, Nature Biotechnology, Nature Medicine, Nature Reviews Drug Discovery, and BioEntrepreneur, along with science careers news from NatureJobs. These articles appear on news@nature.com up to several weeks before they’re published in the print editions of these journals.

"This collection of videos from the University of Alberta is intended to demonstrate laboratory techniques that students will use in an introductory organic chemistry laboratory. The experimental techniques are covered comprehensively in a user-friendly, engaging style. In some instances, the inclusion of other instruments not specific to the authors' institution would help. For example, the use of heating mantles instead of Bunsen burners would be more appropriate as most schools have moved away from open flame. For the extraction experiment (under Using a Separatory Funnel), if the student has not done the venting properly, placing the stopper on the funnel might lead to pressure build-up and release of the stopper. The authors/creators might want to draw attention to this fact. Additionally, in the recrystallization videos, checking the temperature of the water bath to ensure that it is on or below the boiling point of the solvent is necessary to avoid accidents. When using small amounts, specifying the amount (e.g., 2-3 mg) rather than saying "a small amount" might be more helpful to students.

The demonstrator is not wearing gloves in most videos; this is a major safety issue. In the distillation video, distillation was stopped, and the hot mantle was removed with bare hands. At the end of each experiment, a summary of the techniques used is a plus. Some videos contained questions and answers related to specific techniques. The Interactive Tutorials at the bottom of the page are also helpful. Videos can be viewed using QuickTime, Movie Player, or Windows Media. A minor technical glitch is that the forwarding and rewinding did not work well for most videos. The site would benefit by explicit safety and technical updates, but overall the videos provide good demonstrations that will capture students' interest." Choice February 2010.

"All students of biology and chemistry know the story of the discovery of the structure of the DNA molecule. Watson and Crick (with the help of Wilkins and Franklin) were the first to elucidate the structure of the hereditary molecule that carries the information for all life forms. What is not often understood is that Watson and Crick's work rested on the earlier insights of Linus Pauling, the American chemist who described the three-dimensional structure of proteins and nucleic acids. Pauling's work was recognized by the Nobel committees twice: for chemistry and for peace. He remains the only scientist so honored. Linus Pauling Online, maintained by Oregon State University, is an admirable compendium of Pauling's immense contributions to the understanding of the molecules that shape our world, and of the issues in the scientific, biomedical, and political spheres that fascinated him over a long, productive life.

This is a huge, absorbing, and utterly involving site, suitable for use by students, teachers, and professionals alike. There is the story of the discovery of the DNA structure, for example, told from Pauling's perspective--much different from that of James Watson! Most exciting, perhaps, is the searchable database of Pauling's research notebooks. These are treasure troves of information that illuminate the drudgery, as well as the successes, of scientific work. Dip into notebook #24, for example, and on p. 084 read the frustrated scribble, "I can't explain this." Is this a moment of despair or of discovery? A typed note dated 22 April 1971 begins, "I have been interested for some time in the possibility that vitamin C has anti-cancer activity...." This Web site is astonishing, multilayered, and packed with information. In short, it is a fitting tribute to its namesake." Choice January, 2010.

"Published and owned by Nanowerk LLC, the Nanowerk site is a very comprehensive and educational nanotechnology/nanoscience portal. It delivers very current news and information that is rich in scope and content. The well-organized home page, with sections titled Databases, News, Nanobusiness, Resources, and Introduction to Nanotechnology, provides clear links to the site's content. A free, searchable Nanomaterial Database provides information on more than 1,900 materials, and a Company and Labs Directory offers more than 3,000 links. Also available are a conference calendar, video library, free industry reports, periodical directory, and book lists linked to Amazon.com. A site map, search box feature, and easy navigation scheme mean that users can locate information quickly. The site also offers a Spotlight feature article, an encyclopedia, blogs, quizzes, career center, and Nanotalk community forum."

Computational knowledge engine that provides chemical substance property values as well as other types of information.