The Chemical Theory of Phlogiston in the Cultural Economy of Fire: From the Enlightenment to Contemporary Times

The article focuses on how the chemical concept of phlogiston functions in the so-called economy of fire from the eighteenth to twenty-first centuries, in view of a shift in “pyropolitics” (politics of fire) in their relation to the economic paradigms (cameralism, industrial capitalism, postindustrial digital economy), and theories of chemical flame processes (phlogistics, oxygen theory,theory of detonation and deflagration). The phlogiston concept is explored as the key substantial notion of the phlogictic chemical theory of the Enlightenment (regarded also as a natural “cameralistic science” in terms of metallurgy), the epistemological metaphor of ignorance in nineteenth-century Marxist discourse. Phlogiston circulates in the economics of fire discourse as a signifier for surplus value (and some other Marxist terms). “Fire as equivalent to money” becomes, in petropolitical studies, a means for turning petropolitics into pyropolitics with the radical metaphor of “PyroGaia” (Nigel Clark) in the Anthropocene period.

PubMed-Scale Chemical Concept Embeddings Reconstruct Physical Protein Interaction Networks

PubMed is the largest resource of curated biomedical knowledge to date, entailing more than 25 million documents. Large quantities of novel literature prevent a single expert from keeping track of all potentially relevant papers, resulting in knowledge gaps. In this article, we present CHEMMESHNET, a newly developed PubMed-based network comprising more than 10,000,000 associations, constructed from expert-curated MeSH annotations of chemicals based on all currently available PubMed articles. By learning latent representations of concepts in the obtained network, we demonstrate in a proof of concept study that purely literature-based representations are sufficient for the reconstruction of a large part of the currently known network of physical, empirically determined protein–protein interactions. We demonstrate that simple linear embeddings of node pairs, when coupled with a neural network–based classifier, reliably reconstruct the existing collection of empirically confirmed protein–protein interactions. Furthermore, we demonstrate how pairs of learned representations can be used to prioritize potentially interesting novel interactions based on the common chemical context. Highly ranked interactions are qualitatively inspected in terms of potential complex formation at the structural level and represent potentially interesting new knowledge. We demonstrate that two protein–protein interactions, prioritized by structure-based approaches, also emerge as probable with regard to the trained machine-learning model.

A QuantCrit investigation of society’s educational debts due to racism and sexism in chemistry student learning

<div> <div> <div> <p>The American Chemical Society holds supporting diverse student populations engaging in chemistry as a core value. We analyzed chemical concept inventory scores from 4,612 students across 12 institutions to determine what inequities in content knowledge existed before and after introductory college chemistry courses. We interpreted our findings from a Quantitative Critical (QuantCrit) perspective that framed inequities as educational debts that society owed students due to racism, sexism, or both. Results showed that society owed women and Black men large educational debts before and after instruction. Society’s educational debts before instruction were large enough that women and Black men’s average scores were lower than White men’s average pretest scores even after instruction. Society would have to provide opportunities equivalent to taking the course up to two and a half times to repay the largest educational debts. These findings show the scale of the inequities in the science education systems and highlight the need for reallocating resources and opportunities throughout the K-16 education system to mitigate, prevent, and repay society’s educational debts from sexism and racism. </p> </div> </div> </div>

A QuantCrit investigation of society’s educational debts due to racism and sexism in chemistry student learning

<div> <div> <div> <p>The American Chemical Society holds supporting diverse student populations engaging in chemistry as a core value. We analyzed chemical concept inventory scores from 4,612 students across 12 institutions to determine what inequities in content knowledge existed before and after introductory college chemistry courses. We interpreted our findings from a Quantitative Critical (QuantCrit) perspective that framed inequities as educational debts that society owed students due to racism, sexism, or both. Results showed that society owed women and Black men large educational debts before and after instruction. Society’s educational debts before instruction were large enough that women and Black men’s average scores were lower than White men’s average pretest scores even after instruction. Society would have to provide opportunities equivalent to taking the course up to two and a half times to repay the largest educational debts. These findings show the scale of the inequities in the science education systems and highlight the need for reallocating resources and opportunities throughout the K-16 education system to mitigate, prevent, and repay society’s educational debts from sexism and racism. </p> </div> </div> </div>

Effect of cooperative learning model type of group investigation and adversity quotient of students on mastery of chemical concepts on salt hydrolysis material

This study aims to see the effect of the cooperative learning model type of group investigation and adversity quotient of students on the mastery of chemical concepts on salt hydrolysis. This research is a quasi-experimental research with a control group posttest only design using a 2 × 3 factorial design. The research was conducted in class IX MIA SMA N 10 Batanghari with two classes. Sampling was done by total sampling. Data collection techniques are questionnaires, tests and documentation. The test instrument was used to determine the value of mastery of chemical concepts on salt hydrolysis. Meanwhile, the questionnaire instrument was used to determine the level of adversity quotient of students. Data processing used two-way ANOVA. The results showed that the cooperative learning model group Investigation type and the adversitiy quotient of the climber type students had high mastery of chemical concepts, but there was no interaction between the group investigation type learning model and the adversity quotient on the mastery of chemical concepts on salt hydrolysis due to the learning model and adversity quotient influence on mastery of chemical concepts independently. Based on the results of the study, it can be concluded: (1) there is an effect of the group investigation type cooperative learning model on the mastery of chemical concepts (2) there is an effect of students adversity quotient on chemical concept mastery (3) there is no interaction between the cooperative learning model group investigation type with students' adversity quotient on mastery of chemical concepts in salt hydrolysis.

Evaluation of a Chemistry Concept Inventory for general chemistry students at Finnish university

A chemistry concept inventory (Chemical Concept Inventory 3.0/CCI 3.0), previously developed for use in Norwegian universities, was tested and evaluated for use in a Finnish university setting. The test, designed to evaluate student knowledge and learning of chemistry concepts, was administered as both pre- and posttest in first year general chemistry courses at the University of Jyväskylä. The results were evaluated using different statistical tests, focusing both on individual item analysis and the entire test. Some individual questions were found to be not discriminating or reliable enough or too difficult, yet the results, as a whole, indicate that the concept inventory is a reliable and discriminating tool that can be used in the Finnish university context.

The Dual Conception of the Chemical ElementEpistemic Aspects and Implications for Chemical Education

In the present work, the notion of chemical element is analyzed from the perspective of chemical education. Chemists refer to elements either as the final term of chemical analysis (i.e., simple substances) or as what persists in a chemical change. This duality has deep historical roots and it is sanctioned by IUPAC’s definition of chemical element. Nevertheless, it is inherently contradictory and it may result in deep misunderstandings in the educational context. After discussing the problems raised by the identification of the element with any material body—either macroscopic or microscopic—we analyze a number of definitions of elements, proposed by chemists, epistemologists, and educators. After pointing out the strengths and weaknesses of such definitions, we argue that the chemical element is a unifying chemical concept that designates an abstract category, identified by the atomic number.

STRUKTUR ATOM BERDASARKAN ILMU KIMIA DAN PERSPEKTIF AL-QURAN

The atomic structure is one of the chemical metrics studied in high schools and universities. The concept of atomic structure in learning chemistry in schools and universities is usually not associated with religion, especially the Qur'an, so as if learning atomic structure is a separate science and has no connection with the Qur'an. To show that the Qur'an is a guideline for humanity, including examining the natural sciences including chemistry, the authors want to examine the concept of atomic structure based on chemistry and the perspective of the Qur'an which aims to determine the concept of the development of atomic models, particles basic and electron configurations based on chemistry and the Qur'anic perspective. The data collection technique used in this study is literature (Library Research), namely studying the Qur’an and studying reading books, journals, dictates, dictionaries, and scientific works. From this study shows that the Qur'an has been proven to explain the concept of atomic structure first and in the Qur'an there is the concept of atomic structure which is in line with the chemical concept proposed by chemists.