the new communication paradigm will change our Culture

The new Apple iPhone could change everything.  Well, that may be a little too strong.  But there is a good possibility that historians will look back on the introduction of this device as a landmark change for those of us who do chemistry, learn chemistry, or just use chemistry.

Culture is changing and that change is accelerating.  A half century ago when I was a student in school, history teachers noted how slowly culture changed in the past.  Nearly everything I learned in school came from my teachers, the assignments they had us do, or what they had us read in books.  But that has gradually changed so that the situation is considerably different for many of today's students.  With the introduction of the iPhone, we are about to see another dramatic change....

Thomas Kuhn conceived over a half century ago that science should be distinguished into revolutionary periods separated by normal science. Normal science fills in the details while the rare revolutions replace one theoretical framework with a better paradigm. As a science develops, broad revolutions are followed by revolutions which make less sweeping changes. Our knowledge of elements and periodic charts seems to be in a period of normal science. And if revolutions occur in that part of chemistry, they are likely to be rather narrow in scope.

But a revolution may be about to change the way we learn chemistry. Major revolutions in education have been widely separated in time. Much from the Lyceum of Aristotle remains in today's schools. But the Internet has introduced a new medium much as Johannes Gutenberg advanced the printed medium in the 15th Century. The textbook and printed documents had a dramatic change on education and the way knowledge and understanding was transmitted from one generation to the next. Most of the pieces for another revolution are in place. Google has provided a ...