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Chemistry by (the etymology of the) words: strategies to teach chemistry and

challenge the borders of specialization

Presentation · June 2017

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João C Paiva Carla Morais

University of Porto University of Porto
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Luciano Moreira
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CHEMISTRY BY (THE ETYMOLOGY OF THE) WORDS: STRATEGIES TO TEACH

CHEMISTRY AND CHALLENGE THE BORDERS OF SPECIALIZATION
João C. Paiva1, Carla Morais1 and Luciano Moreira2
1
CIQUP, UEC, DQB, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade do Porto, Rua do Campo Alegre, 687, 4169-
007, Porto, Portugal
jcpaiva@fc.up.pt; cmorais@fc.up.pt
2
CIQUP, DEI, Faculdade de Engenharia, Universidade do Porto, Rua Dr. Roberto Frias, 4200-465, Porto,
Portugal
lucianomoreira@fe.up.pt

Chemistry teachers in Higher Education are often restricted to a limited area of

knowledge. However, they not only have to disseminate knowledge among their
peers, but they also have to teach college students or to communicate with lay
audiences. Unfolding chemistry jargon is pretty much a contemporary challenge,
because “academics make use of these [chemistry] terms without often realizing the
exact meaning of the underlying words” (Beezer, 1940; Loyson, 2009, p. 1195;
Loyson, 2010). One needs to provide scholars with multidisciplinary resources that
bridge etymology and history to chemistry content knowledge (Lazlo, 2013). In this
paper, we present an ongoing project of a book and website about chemistry lexicon.
The project, based upon a variety of sources, such as lists of etymological derivations
(Nechamkin, 1958) and dictionaries (e.g., Larrañaga et al., 2016), goes beyond
defining chemistry terms (concepts, instruments and techniques) and tracing their
etymological roots and cultural significance. It also proposes educational strategies to
use them in Higher Education and in other formal and informal settings. To learn the
ways of words, students are most likely to engage in analogical reasoning, to develop
critical views on the nature of science, and to challenge the boundaries of
specialization (Paiva et al., 2013). We have reflected upon the process of undertaking
this project, the ways to explore its affordances and its social relevance. While looking
into words of our academic lexicon in a different perspective, we have been
surprised. We have learnt that acid comes from a Latin word meaning needle and is
rooted in the Indo-European language meaning sharp. Thus, acid can be linked with
sharp objects, not only with food and taste. Language can be a switchblade to fight
back the intellectual insulation effects of specialization and engage scholars and
students in a fascinating world of words.
Keywords: Chemistry lexicon, Chemistry etymology, Chemistry history, Teaching
strategies, Higher education
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Acknowledgment: Luciano Moreira is supported by the FCT grant:
PD/BD/114152/2015.
References:

Beezer, G. (1940). Latin and Greek roots in chemical terminology. Journal of Chemical Education,17(2),
63-66.
th
Larrañaga, M., Lewis, R. and Lewis, R. (Eds.) (2016). Hawley's condensed chemical dictionary (16 ed).
New Jersey: Wiley.

Loyson, P. (2009). Influences of ancient Greek on chemical terminology. Journal of Chemical Education,
86, 1195-1199.

Loyson, P. (2010). Influences from Latin on chemical terminology. Journal of Chemical Education, 87,
1303-1307.

Nechamkin, H. (1958). Some interesting etymological derivations of chemical terminology. Science

Education, 42, 463-474.

Paiva, J. C., Morais, C. and Moreira, L. (2013). Specialization, chemistry and poetry: Challenging
chemistry boundaries. Journal of Chemical Education, 90(12), 1577−1579.

Pierre, L. (2013). Towards teaching chemistry as a language. Science & Education, 22, 1669–1706.

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