The Special Studies

As in the previous editions, students of the third edition of Nuffield Advanced Chemistry were required to undertake a four-week study of an applied aspect of science which was based on chemical principles.

The main purpose of this section of the course was to help students to see something of the scope of a related subject, and to appreciate its dependence upon chemical ideas. In doing this, they automatically revised some of the basic concepts of chemistry, such as structure and its relation to physical and chemical properties; equilibria; rates; and energy changes.

The special studies were also designed to show students something of the applications of the subjects, and of their social and economic effects. The hope was that students would come to regard chemistry as useful knowledge - useful in processing mineral resources, useful to dieticians, useful to manufacturers of metals and polymers, and useful in the production of the multitude of products that we find so valuable every day.

The surface chemistry special study was deleted. Metals as materials was rewritten to become a study of materials in general. The chemical engineering special study was retained as part of the course but it was not revised for the third edition.

The version produced for the second edition continued to be used.