CHEMISTRY FOR PEOPLE :
Chemists in every walk of life are playing major roles n making human life
comfortable. When
people learnt how to use fire in the prehistoric age, he got involved in chemical
applications. He
prepared food by cooking or frying. He learnt the technique of preparing glass. Gradually he used
metallurgical processes to obtain copper, iron, gold, silver, lead and the other metals one by one.
Tools, utensils, ornaments, jewelry and weapons were processed and produced in different stages
of civilization. Professional chemists now use more than 70,000
chemicals for the people in our
society, bringing countless benefits in respect of food, clothing, shelter, transport and
communications.
It is estimated that in the United States of America more than 5 million products are made available
by chemical industries for public consumption. Every year more than one thousand new products are
released. We are not able to cope with shape of things to come.
Chemical industry has reached this stage of mass production and consumption because people has
realized the usefulness of the products and accepted them. Every human being in fact is
a innovator
of some chemical substances. Knowingly or unknowingly he/she uses chemistry in day to
day life.
A woman uses chemistry in the kitchen when she cooks. We practice chemistry when we clean our
house. We practice chemistry in the bath room. We practice chemistry when we take medicine for
treatment or apply on an injury or a burn. Our body is also a huge chemical laboratory with
multifarious
chemical reactions to continue the living processes. Paints, cosmetics, perfumes, toot paste, home
appliances of all sorts are materials with chemical substances. Food we take every day undergoes
chemical transformations releasing energy and essential metabolic products. In breathing, sleeping
or
in work many chemical compounds are involved. Brain, muscles, skin or any part of
the body is
composed of chemical compounds. Chemistry is a science that touches human life every moment.
Earth, planets, stars and the universe are composed of chemicals. Many and varied chemical reactions
at solid, liquid and gaseous states go on without break. Chemistry shapes human body,
plant and
animal lives. Agriculture, farming, fertilizers, pesticides, harvesting all require
chemical knowledge.
Biotechnology and other disciplines are manifestations of
applied chemistry. Chemistry goes beyond
the individual and affects the society as a whole.
Learning in chemistry is a do it yourself activity. To learn chemistry
and acquire chemical
knowledge we perform experiments in the laboratories. All human activities in
cooking, farming
and many more areas of day to day activity are in fact also chemical experiments and applications
of chemistry in daily life. These experiments and modifications by a individual leads to new
experimental
design in chemistry. These activities are important in changing life style. Society and culture are
outcome of human activities of a group of men and women. It can be compared to a research
laboratory.
Realizing the impact of chemistry in changing life style Wu Yong, the Deputy Principal and Associate
Professor in Nanping University, Fujian, China has started a novel scheme to make all citizens
chemically literate. In a paper presented in Tenth International
Conference on Chemical Education held
from August 20th to 25th ,1989 in University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada he
had highlighted
the fundamental aim of educational reform is to change the system to raise the quality of
life of the
people all over the world. His views are presented below in a nutshell.
