CH113 - History of
Chemistry
Term Papers Guidelines
Text: Hacker "A Pocket Style Manual" 3rd ed.
Grade Breakdown and Honor Code
You will be expected to
write a 2000 to 2500 word paper on one of the following topics, (only 1-2
persons per topic). You will
be submitting your paper to an "anonymous" peer reviewer that I will pick from the
class when you electronically
submit the draft to me. The
reviewer’s comments will be electronically returned to me and I will
forward them to you (and they will be graded also). A
second draft will be prepared and again reviewed (by a peer reviewer as
well as me). The peer reviewers are not expected to create a grade.
Instead their work is graded on the quality of their comments on
your paper (and you are graded on your comments on someone else’s
paper). The grade
breakdown will be as follows:
Title, one page Abstract,
Outline,
and References:
20% (Due
Second Monday 9 AM)
1st Reviewer Comments:
10%
(Due Second Tuesday 9 AM)
Second (Complete) Draft:
30% (Due
Third Monday 9 AM)
2nd Reviewer Comments:
10%
(Due Third Tuesday 9 AM)
Final Draft:
30%
(Due Fourth Monday 9 AM)
Topics: “Mysteries of the Past”
Your paper should use at least one “primary” source. This usually means a source written in the era of interest, but in this context it probably means a scientific journal article that is written by the person who did the research (not a review article or book).
I. Were these famous artifacts fake or real? Discuss the chemical evidence each way and come to a conclusion that you can support.
1) Vinland Map (Map of the New World pre-dating Columbus?) (3 people)
2) Getty Kuoros (Priceless Greek statue of a young man?) (1 person)
3) The Shroud of Turin (Burial cloth of Jesus?) (2 people)
II. Were these accomplishments due to outside diffusion or parallel development? Discuss the two alternatives and draw a conclusion using chemical evidence.
1) The invention of agriculture in China and the Fertile Crescent (2 people)
2) Metallurgy in Africa north and south of the Sahara Desert (1 person)
3) Metallurgy in North and South America (1 person)
4) The origins of Stonehenge (1 person)
III. Contrast the importance of the following pairs of methods to our knowledge of our human past, providing a description of how they work and sample historical applications.
1) Carbon 14 dating vs. amino acid dating (2 people)
2) Stable C and N isotope ratios vs. stable O isotope ratios (2 people)
3) Trace element analysis of natural stones/gems vs. ceramics (2 people)
4) Elemental vs. organic analyses of ancient foods/diets (2 people)
5) Ancient DNA vs. modern DNA as a window on the past (2 people)
IV. Trace the importance of the following materials through history. What was their significance to the people of each era/area you examine? How do you/we know that? What do we learn from our chemical analyses?
1) Glass and other vitreous technologies (2 people)
2) Amber, pitch, and other resinous materials (2 people)