Botany 2

Of all the diverse courses in the field of Biology, Botany 2 is perhaps the most enjoyable. Certainly this can be said for the department of Botany itself, a unit small enough for accurate comparison.

The lectures in Botany 2 "make" the course. Professor Weston is a person with that rare gift of being able to make the driest portions of a subject sparkle with interest. Not that the subject matter is uninteresting per se, but Professor Weston's wide experience and boundless enthusiasm do much to make the material especially presentable, even to the most mediocre student.

The emphasis in the course is laid on the algae and fungi, because they are Professor Weston's special field, but the Bryophytes and Pteridophytes also receive due attention, thus covering the whole field of Cryptogamic Botany, including an historical introduction. The lab work is correlated to the lectures, proportionate amounts of time being spent on each topic.

The small size of the course and the preponderance of graduate students enrolled allow a certain amount of informality which is always welcome. Very short weekly quizzes of a general nature make possible the omission of the hour exam, and are not too trying for the student who likes to let his work slide till the final.

All in all, Botany 2 is a course which should not be missed by anyone in the field of Biology. A certain indifference to the merits of Botany 1 keeps many away from Botany 2 and higher courses in Botany, but if one has only a passing interest in the subject of Biology as a whole, he cannot fall to like this course.

Chemistry A

For one looking for an interesting way of passing off his science requirement, Chemistry A, although not the easiest course in the world, is an excellent choice. For the man concentrating in science of any sort it is, if not a necessity, extremely worthwhile and profitable.

The course deals almost entirely with inorganic chemistry. Accordingly, all the elements and simple compounds are taken up in considerable detail. This includes considerable descriptive work both in the lectures and in the laboratory. The lectures, of which there are two each week, are always satisfactory and sometimes extremely interesting for the most part, than the laboratory work of most beginning science courses. Many lecture-table experiments and descriptions of the commonest industrial processes keep the necessary description from being dry or dull. The one afternoon of laboratory work, which includes a ten-minute test at the beginning of the period on the work of the proceding week is considerably more interesting.

Chemistry B

Chemistry B is a half course given in the first half year for the purpose of accommodating those who have had a little chemistry in school and who shy away from higher courses of more obvious seriousness in the field. It seems to be usually filled by students who are not sure just how much chemistry they know, and who need to be smoothed over into college scientific study, or at least stalled off for a semester from such gruelling laboratory orgies as Chemistry 3a or 33. All in all it lacks a definite educational aim, and attempts only to fill in the gaps and polish up on the methods of such surveys as Chemistry A.

The lectures are not brilliant, but they are well prepared and enlivened by an endless number of exciting lecture table experiments, the performance of which Professor Fieser carries out as well as any lecturer in the department. The time is chiefly given over to a thorough chemical study of the various metals in the periodic table, often with underhanded references to their metallurgy, mining, and industrial significance which usually seem quite beside the point and have no place in the course. The industrial side of the work is emphasized in the laboratory in which a series of experiments are done, mostly laboratory imitations of industrial processes, such as the manufacture of salt or soda. The chief criticism to be made of this course is in the laboratory personel. The assistants are for the most part students studying for their master's degree, and they perform their work of drilling elementary chemistry into their charges, both in the laboratory and in the section meeting, with obvious boredom and occasional ignorance. With a few exceptions, their teaching talent is nil.

Chemistry 2a

A knowledge of organic chemistry is necessary for any good scientist, no matter what the field, and especially for medicine. Besides being a necessity, this course holds a certain fascination. It consists mostly in the description and preparation of hundreds of organic (carbon-containing) substances, with formulas sufficiently complex and yet obedient to laws to make excellent puzzle-problems. Working these formulas on paper has indeed been likened to playing with anagrams and cross-word puzzles.

The weekly laboratory work, while hard and longer by several hours than the stated time, is interesting and would be equally instructive if the laboratory assistants worked more enthusiastically and less officiously. As in most Chemistry courses the teaching calibre of these men is as lacking as their interest. The whole of the burden of instruction falls on Professor Fleser who lectures remarkably well considering the complexity of the subject matter. The organization of the course consists chiefly in extremely hard examinations every two weeks. The absurdly low grades which most of the students have received on these memory tests, leads one to hope that the difficulty of the questions will be scaled down in the future to do away with the down-trodden majority who receive D's and E's.

Chemistry 6

For those who are really interested in science, be it Physics, Biology, Physiology, or Chemistry, this course in introductory physical chemistry is in invaluable. It covers the nature of matter, the nature of solutions, the nature of reactions, and ionic equilibria and in such a way as to give a basis for the interpretation of chemical facts and principles not only from the viewpoint of matter on masse, but especially in terms of the individual atoms and molecules.

There are three lectures a week, supplemented by about six hours of laboratory work, most of which is interesting and useful. Problems are assigned about twice a week.

The course is presented very ably by Professor Bent in a clear, concise manner. It is well organized, and for anyone who keeps up to date in his work, should not be very difficult. Special stress is laid on thought and reasoning power rather than memory, which makes the course much more valuable training than it would otherwise be. It is not a dull course in theory, but has, rather, a great many practical applications