The Special Studies

As in the previous editions, students of the Fourth 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.

Only four of the Special Studies were revised and republished for the Fourth Edition of the course. The electronic files were made available on a web site called Re:act run by the Nuffield Curriculum Centre. The Study Guides for students were only published as web pages.