Chemistry historians are familiar with genealogies that link contemporary chemists to their (more famous?) forebears. A variation of this would be to take a modern PhD thesis and explore its historical roots. This paper seeks to link Henry Edward Armstrong’s 1886 conception that all chemical change is reversed electrolysis, with O. T. Benfey’s 1946 thesis on the solvent and salt effects in hydrolysis. Armstrong was also involved in educational reforms (heurism). Can this also be linked with Benfey’s role in changing the American High School curriculum?

From Armstrong’s reversed electrolysis and heuristic teaching method to O. T. Benfey’s solvent salt effects in hydrolysis and the changing American chemistry curriculum

2019 Fall National Meeting

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