bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Energy and Climate
Authors: McElroy Michael B.
Published: November 2020

The climate of our planet is changing at a rate unprecedented in recent human history. The energy absorbed from the sun exceeds what is returned to space. The planet as a whole is gaining energy. The heat content of the ocean is increasing; the surface and atmosphere are warming; mid-latitude glaciers are melting; sea level is rising. The Arctic Ocean is losing its ice cover. None of these assertions are based on theory but on hard scientific fact. Given the science-heavy nature of climate change, debates and discussions have not played as big a role in the public sphere as they should, and instead are relegated to often misinformed political discussions and inaccessible scientific conferences. Michael B. McElroy, an eminent Harvard scholar of environmental studies, combines both his research chops and pedagogical expertise to present a book that will appeal to the lay reader but still be grounded in scientific fact. In Energy and Climate: Vision for the Future, McElroy provides a broad and comprehensive introduction to the issue of energy and climate change intended to be accessible for the general reader. The book includes chapters on energy basics, a discussion of the contemporary energy systems of the US and China, and two chapters that engage the debate regarding climate change. The perspective is global but with a specific focus on the US and China recognizing the critical role these countries must play in addressing the challenge of global climate change. The book concludes with a discussion of initiatives now underway to at least reduce the rate of increase of greenhouse gas emissions, together with a vision for a low carbon energy future that could in principle minimize the long-term impact of energy systems on global climate.
Human- Induced Climate Change Why You Should Take It Seriously
Authors: McElroy Michael B.
Published: November 2020

As the title suggests, the objective of this chapter is to outline the reasons why you should take the issue of human- induced climate change seriously. There is no doubt that the concentrations of a number of the key components of the atmosphere, so-called greenhouse gases with the potential to alter climate, are higher now than they have been at any time over at least the past 800,000 years, probably much longer. Furthermore, there is no question but that diverse forms of human activity are largely responsible for the recent increase in the concentrations of these gases. The increase began several hundred years ago and, unchecked, is likely to continue into the indefinite future. This alone should justify a cautionary response with respect to the prospects for human-induced climate change. But, as we shall see, the issue is even more complicated. The warming impact of the rising concentration of greenhouse gases has been offset (muted) until recently by cooling resulting from small particles formed in the atmosphere as byproducts of conventional forms of air pollution. These particles, referred to as aerosols, have an important negative impact on public health: when respired, they persist in your lungs and can enter the bloodstream, triggering a variety of serious cardio-vascular and respiratory problems. They contribute also to the phenomenon of acid rain responsible for killing freshwater fish and damaging plant life more generally. Societies have taken steps with some success to reduce emissions of these offending chemicals. The downside is that we are now beginning to experience acceleration in the pace of climate change, a circumstance for which we are ill prepared. I begin with a discussion of the energetics of the global climate system, the situation that would apply if energy absorbed from the sun on a global scale were balanced precisely by energy returned to space in the form of long- wavelength (infrared) radiation, following with an account of what we understand when we talk about the greenhouse effect, the role played by specific components of the atmosphere in limiting transmission of infrared radiation to space.
Oil: A Volatile Past, An Uncertain Future
Authors: McElroy Michael B.
Published: November 2020

For thousands of years, wood was the most important source of energy for human societies. There were many applications for this resource. Arguably, the most important was its role as a source of charcoal, which, burned at a high temperature, made it possible to fashion tools and weapons from copper, tin, bronze, and later iron. When wood ran out, civilizations frequently collapsed, a pattern repeated many times over the course of human history. Coal replaced wood as the dominant source of energy in England in the early part of the eighteenth century. Benefitting from an advance by Abraham Darby, a Shropshire ironmaster, coal provided the motive force for the Industrial Revolution, which took root at about the same time. Darby’s innovation, in 1709, was the development of a pro¬tocol to remove impurities such as sulfur from coal that would otherwise have impeded the smelting process. Coke, produced from coal, replaced charcoal, formed from wood, as the critical industrial commodity. Countries rich in coal benefitted accordingly. Only in 1900, however, did coal replace wood as the primary source of energy in the United States, a tribute to the country’s abundant sources of timber and the access it enjoyed to a ready source of power available from the series of waterfalls that punctuated the flows of a number of rivers in the country’s northeast, notably the Charles River in Massachusetts and the Merrimack River in New Hampshire (including its lower reaches in Massachusetts). As discussed earlier, this latter resource played a pivotal role in the success of the early textile industry in New England. Oil supplanted coal as the critical global energy source for major industrial economies in the first half of the twentieth century. The roots of oil use extend deep into the past. Oil seeps were exploited in Mesopotamia as early as 5,000 BC to provide a source of asphalt and pitch that was used as mortar to construct the walls and towers of Babylon. Genesis records God’s instruction to Noah to “make yourself an ark of gopher wood: make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and out with pitch.”
Hydro: Power From Running Water
Authors: McElroy Michael B.
Published: November 2020

As discussed in Chapter 4 and illustrated in Figure 4.1, close to 50% of the solar energy intercepted by the Earth is absorbed at the surface. Approximately half of this energy, 78 W m– 2, is used to evaporate water, mainly from the ocean. What this means is that evaporation of water accounts for as much as a third of the total solar energy absorbed by the Earth (atmosphere plus surface). The atmosphere has a limited ability to retain this water. Evaporation is balanced in close to real time by precipitation. A portion of this precipitation reaches the surface in regions elevated with respect to sea level— in mountainous locations, for example. It is endowed in this case with what we refer to as potential energy (Chapter 4). This potential energy can be stored (in lakes or dams, for instance), or it can be released, converted to kinetic energy (directed motion) as the water flows downhill on its return to the ocean. And along the way, energy can be captured and channeled to perform useful work. An early application involved exploiting the power of running water to turn a flat stone, one of two that constituted the apparatus used to grind grain, the other remaining stationary during the grinding process. The Domesday Book records that by AD 1086 as many as 5,624 water mills were operational in England south of the River Trent, deployed not just to grind grain but for a multitude of other tasks, including, but not confined to, sawing wood, crushing ore, and pumping the bellows of industrial furnaces (Derry and Williams 1960). Later, running water would provide the motive force for the textile industry that marked the beginning of the industrial age in North America, specifically in New England (Steinberg 1991; McElroy 2010). The most important contemporary application of water power involves the generation of electricity, the bulk of which is obtained by tapping the potential energy stored in high- altitude dams, a lesser fraction from the kinetic energy supplied by free- flowing streams (what is referred to as run- of- the- river sources).
Limiting US And Chinese Emissions: The Beijing Agreement
Authors: McElroy Michael B.
Published: November 2020

In a landmark agreement reached in Beijing on November 11, 2014, US President Obama and his Chinese counterpart President Xi Jinping announced plans to limit future emissions of greenhouse gases from their two countries. President Obama’s commitment was for the United States to emit 26% to 28% less carbon in 2025 than it did in 2005, a target more ambitious than one he had announced earlier (in 2009) that would have called for a decrease of 17% by 2020. The prior target would have required a reduc¬tion in emissions at an annual average rate of 1.2% between 2005 and 2020. The more recent agreement dictates a faster pace, at least in the later years, 2.3%– 2.8% per year between 2020 and 2025. The longer term goal for US climate policy, announced at the Climate Change Summit in Copenhagen in 2009, is to reduce emissions by 83% by 2050 relative to 2005. President Xi’s commitment in Beijing was that China’s emissions would peak by 2030, if not earlier, and that nonfossil sources would account for as much as 20% of China’s total primary energy consumption by 2030. As indicated in the fact sheet released by the White House describing the agreement (http:// www.whitehouse.gov/ the- press- office/ 2014/ 11/ 11/ fact- sheet- us- china- joint- announcement- climate- change- and- clean- energy- c), Xi’s pledge would require “China to deploy an additional 800–1,000 GW of nuclear, wind, solar, and other zero emission generation capacity by 2030— more than all of the coal- fired plants that exist in China today and close to total current electricity generat¬ing capacity in the United States.” in a landmark agreement reached in Beijing on November 11, 2014, US President Obama and his Chinese counterpart President Xi Jinping announced plans to limit future emissions of greenhouse gases from their two countries. President Obama’s com¬mitment was for the United States to emit 26% to 28% less carbon in 2025 than it did in 2005, a target more ambitious than one he had announced earlier (in 2009) that would have called for a decrease of 17% by 2020.
The Dogma of “the” Scientific Method
Authors: Allchin Douglas
Published: November 2020

It’s altogether too easy to reduce all method in science to a simple algorithm. Hypothesize, deduce (or predict), test, evaluate, conclude. It seems like a handy formula for authority. “The” Scientific Method (expressed in this way) haunts the introductions of textbooks, lab report guidelines, and science fair standards. Yet it is a poor model for learning about method in science. One might endorse instead teaching about the scientist’s toolbox. Science draws on a suite of methods, not just one. The methods also include model building, analogy, pattern recognition, induction, blind search and selection, raw data harvesting, computer simulation, experimental tinkering, chance, and (yes) play, among others. The toolbox concept remedies two major problems in the conventional view. First, it credits the substantial work—scientific work—in developing concepts or hypotheses. Science is creative. Even to pursue the popular strategy of falsification, one must first have imaginative conjectures. We need to foster such creative thinking skills among students. Second, the toolbox view supports many means for finding evidence—some direct, some indirect, some experimental, some observational, some statistical, some based on controls, some on similarity relationships, some on elaborate thought experiments, and so on. Again, students should be encouraged to think about evidence and argument broadly. Consider just a few historical examples. First, note Watson and Crick’s landmark model of DNA. It was just that: a model. They drew on data already available. They also played with cardboard templates of nucleotide bases. Yes, their hypothesis of semiconservative replication was eventually tested by Meselson and Stahl—later. But even that involved enormous experimental creativity (essay 4). Consider, too, Mendel’s discoveries in inheritance (essay 22). Mendel did not test just seven traits of pea plants, cleverly chosen in advance (as the story is often told). Rather, he seems to have followed twenty-two varieties exhibiting fifteen traits, hoping for patterns to emerge. He ultimately abandoned those varieties whose results he called confusing. Nobelist Thomas Hunt Morgan, in Mendel’s wake, did not discover sex linkage through any formal hypothesis about inheritance.
Skepticism and the Architecture of Trust
Authors: Allchin Douglas
Published: November 2020

Consider the controversy, not long ago, over prostate cancer screening. A presidential task force scaled back recommended testing. But many doctors, citing important cases where screening detected cancer early, disagreed. Whose judgment should we trust? In New England, fish populations are threatened, according to experts. They suggest discontinuing cod fishing. But the fishermen report no decrease in their catches and defend their livelihood. Whose expertise should prevail: the scientists with their sampling and its inherent uncertainties, or the fishermen with their intimate local knowledge? There is a lot of alarm about global warming. But maybe it’s all “hot air.” Many political leaders cite scientific experts who say that the problem is overblown, and just politicized by biased environmental activists. Whose pronouncements should we heed? As illustrated in these cases, interpreting science in policy and personal decision-making poses important challenges. But being able to gather all the relevant evidence, gauge whether it is complete, and evaluate its quality is well beyond the average consumer of science. Inevitably, we all rely on scientific experts. The primary problem is not assessing the evidence, but knowing who to trust (essay 13). In standard lore, science educators are responsible for nurturing a sense of skepticism. We want to empower students to guard themselves against health scams, pseudoscientific nonsense, and unjustified reassurances about environmental or worker safety. But one may want to challenge this sacred bovine. Skepticism tends to erode belief. Blind doubt itself does not yield reliable knowledge. The aim, rather, as exemplified in the cases above, is to know where to place our trust. The problem of knowing who to trust is not new. In the late 1600s, Robert Boyle reflected on how to structure a scientific community, the emerging Royal Society of England. Investigators would need to share their findings. But reporting added a new layer between observations and knowledge. While ideally everyone might reproduce everyone else’s experiments, such redundancy wasted time and resources. Scientific knowledge would grow only if you could trust what others said. But what warranted such trust? Reliable testimony became a new problem.
William Harvey and Capillaries
Authors: Allchin Douglas
Published: November 2020

Circulation of the blood is so familiar that one can hardly imagine a time when it was not fully understood. Indeed, the ancients knew about the pulse and the flow of blood. They recognized, too, the vital importance of the heartbeat and nourishment. Yet the concept of a complete blood circuit emerged only in the early 1600s, largely owing to investigations by William Harvey (Figure 23.1). Harvey has since earned renown as one of biology’s great heroes. But what guided Harvey to his landmark discovery? According to many popular accounts, Harvey’s genius was reflected in his remarkable ability to deduce circulation without being able to observe the capillaries that ultimately close the circuit between arteries and veins. Moreover, Harvey’s reasoning was so powerful, they contend, that he was able to confidently predict the presence of the tiny blood vessels without ever seeing them. Only later did others confirm his insightful prediction. That triumph, tragically too late for Harvey himself to appreciate, seems to vividly demonstrate the importance of deduction and prediction in Harvey’s work—and in science generally. However, these stories do not measure up to historical evidence very well. Nonetheless, the widespread error is itself telling. Probing the erroneous stories more deeply, one can gain an even deeper appreciation of scientific myth-conceptions and how they foster misconceptions about the nature of science (essay 21). Most important to understanding Harvey’s discovery, perhaps, is his adoption of the renewed spirit of experimentation in the early 1600s: an eagerness to tinker with and actively probe nature (essay 1). Rather than read books, he dissected animals. He cut open fish, frogs, and other creatures to observe their beating hearts. His unexpected observations led him to new conclusions, which he published in 1628 in De Motu Cordis et Sanguinis, or On the Motion of the Heart and the Blood.
Hands- Off Dissection?
Authors: Allchin Douglas
Published: November 2020

Amid the mantra-like rhetoric of the value of “hands- on” learning, the growth of computer “alternatives” to dissection in biology education is a striking anomaly. Instead of touching and experiencing real organisms, students now encounter life as virtual images. Hands-on, perhaps, but on a keyboard instead. Or on a computer mouse, not the living kind. This deep irony might prompt some to hastily redesign such alternatives. Or to find and adopt others. However, one could—far more deeply and profitably—view this as an occasion to reflect on the aims in teaching biology. What do computer programs and models teach? By not sacrificing any animal, one ostensibly expresses respect for life. Nothing seems more important—or moral—for a biology student to learn. Yet using this standard—respect for life—many alternatives to dissection seem deeply flawed. First, most alternatives share a fundamental destructive strategy of taking organisms apart. Each organ is removed and discarded in turn. That might seem to be the very nature of dissection. Yet some contend that “the best dissection is the one that makes the fewest cuts.” Here, the aim is discovery, not destruction. One tries to separate and clarify anatomical structures: trace pathways, find boundaries, encounter connections—quite impossible if things are precut and disappear as preformed units in a single mouse click. The “search and destroy” strategy, once common, is now justly condemned. Such dissections were never well justified. They reflect poor educational goals and fundamentally foster disrespect toward animals. Indeed, dissections may be opportunities to monitor and thus guide student attitudes. Search-and-destroy alternatives to dissection merely echo antiquated approaches. Better no dissections at all than such ill-conceived alternatives. Second, prepackaged images or take-apart models are not much better. They reduce the body to parts. No more than pieces in a mechanical clock. They neatly parcel the body into discrete units. However, a real body is messy. It is held together with all sorts of connective tissue.
Close to Nature
Authors: Allchin Douglas
Published: November 2020

“Appreciation of life” is not listed on many biology curricula nowadays. Yet no other theme seems more central, nor so intensely personal, for many research biologists, as well as for many biology teachers (essay 1). Why exclude something so meaningful? Of course, biology is a science. And science is about facts, not values. Besides, how would one evaluate a student’s level of “appreciation” objectively on a multiple-choice test? Still, disregarding this strong motivational factor seems puzzling in an era when many teachers regard their primary challenge as trying to motivate students. Meanwhile, major institutions are trying to motivate more students and recruit them into science careers. Perhaps we can address this puzzle? First, let’s publicly acknowledge this dimension of research and teaching and begin to articulate why it is so important. Second, let’s discuss how to teach this responsibly and perhaps how to assess the effectiveness of our teaching. The National Association of Biology Teachers, for example, currently has position statements on the spread of AIDS, global warming, population control, and the use of animals in education. All reflect indirectly the general principle “respect for life.” Yet it is not stated explicitly. Why not? Can it be assumed? Our culture embraces professional ethics. Should a statement of the values of professional biology educators include “striving to convey an appreciation of and respect for life”? A passion for life seems most conspicuous when teachers address the topics of tropical rainforests, biodiversity, and environmentalism. Teachers often exhort their students to be concerned citizens, even to take public action. Some will promote vegetarianism. Others will encourage students to campaign for preserving species. And so on. While these practices embody principles of academic freedom, the introduction of particular ideology is also troublesome. It too readily mixes science and values in a way that can easily confuse students, who often struggle with the fundamental difference between descriptive and normative claims. Scientists can be experts, but they alone cannot tell us what values to follow, what we ought to do.
Contingencies in Chemical Explanation
Authors: koertge Noretta
Published: November 2020

“Chemistry has a position in the center of the sciences, bordering onto physics, which provides its theoretical foundation, on one side, and onto biology on the other, living organisms being the most complex of all chemical systems” (Malmström et al.). Thus begins a recent essay on the development of modern chemistry. Philosophers have long wrestled with how best to describe the exact relationship between chemistry and physics. Is it an example of a classic reduction? But before we ask whether chemistry could in principle be derived from physics, there is a prior question: How well integrated is the science of chemistry itself? This chapter argues that although there is a coherent explanatory core within chemical theory, contingency plays a larger role than is usually recognized. Furthermore, these phenomena at the boundaries of traditional chemistry education are where some of the most important current research is occurring. I will first adopt a quasi-historical approach in this essay, including anecdotes from my own educational trajectory. I then briefly discuss how our current understanding of the explanatory structure of chemistry should be reflected in education today. The professor of quantum chemistry at the University of Illinois in the 1950s told us a story from his PhD defense. His director, Linus Pauling, walked into the room and said something to this effect: “Well, Karplus, you’ve done a bunch of calculations on the hydrogen molecule ion (H2 +). Very nice. But you claim to be a chemist. So please write the Periodic Table on the board for us.” Who knows exactly what point Pauling was actually trying to make, but it reminds us of this basic point. The periodic table with its horizontal and vertical trends is still the basis of the classification of enormous amounts of information about the formulae and properties of chemical compounds. Mendeleev would not have understood talk of strontium-90, but he would have realized immediately that this product of nuclear testing would enter the body in a manner similar to calcium.
Movies: Media as Message
Authors: Fox Raymond
Published: November 2020

Media are powerful and creative instruments for stimulating motivation, arousing interest, and sustaining engagement in the educational process. McLuhan stresses the importance of vision in the broadest sense. Movies enhance and enrich the learning atmosphere as they depict universal themes and compel attention to essential interactions. Making visual the radiance of humanity, media unify the learner and teacher in mutual and mindful reflection. Movies constitute one among many forms of media—including music, television shows, and literature—available for you to enliven lessons, to provide variety in class presentations, to augment conceptual frameworks, and to help your students better understand themselves, their clients, and the transactions between them. Movies can shed new light on themes, situations, and dilemmas students face daily. They can also cast into the foreground themes, situations, and dilemmas with which students have no previous firsthand acquaintance. Movies enhance deepened reflection. They endow lessons with added value. This chapter suggests movies suitable for use in courses in family treatment, teaching, and clinical practice. It focuses on the compelling nature of films and offers some guideposts for considering and selecting movies for your own courses. Popular culture engages us with the world. Students are exquisitely attracted and attuned to visual stimulation. Portraying some of the most basic issues in human existence, movies can prompt students to take a more thoughtful look at the dynamics influencing clients and their environment. Such portrayal becomes an indelible lesson. ‘‘Moving pictures’’ are ‘‘moving’’ in a number of respects. They are active. They are compelling. They touch an emotional chord. They move students toward lively discussion. They move, supplement, and augment textual and case material. Movies poignantly capture relevant issues in the human condition—such as the suffering of physical illness and its consequences as portrayed in Lorenzo’s Oil, the emotional isolation of a family as shown in Ordinary People, the tumult depicted in Babe, the question of mental illness as seen in Don Juan DeMarco, and clinicians’ angst as in Equus.
Photography, Art, and Quasi-art
Authors: Fox Raymond
Published: November 2020

Photographs and artwork celebrate and evoke creativity and curiosity. Stirring a thirst in students for delving beyond words into deeper consciousness, planting kernels of curiosity, whetting their appetite for learning counts for much more than pouring information into their heads. Photographs and artwork play a prominent part in my teaching and practice. While I have absolutely no talent in either art or photography, each nevertheless has educational and therapeutic value in sharpening students’ cognitive ability and honing their emotional sensitivity. It is frustrating to convey the elusive essence of photography and artwork as educational adjuncts. They have a palpable impact on learning, practice, and fostering productive and healthy interaction. Both photography and art embody so much more than words can say. They offer for teachers and students alike a more raw and honest means of communication than words do. They change ways of seeing. More than for their aesthetic impact, photographs and artwork are versatile and riveting in teaching. They nurture spontaneity, reduce distance between students and students, and students and you. In the long run, images have staying power. They remain in students’ minds far better and far longer than words do. They promote retention and recall. They help to make the invisible visible by compressing intangible and ephemeral ideas into concrete form. They transform the intangible and tacit into the graphic and tangible. Photographs and artwork, drawn upon in a variety of ways, amplify key points, direct attention to non-traditional material, arouse an array of senses, and appeal to different learning styles. Because they are so palpable, the language of visual line, color, and image deepens comprehension. Photographs and artwork readily trigger associations. No question, ‘‘A picture is worth a thousand words.’’ Words sometimes have a tendency to obscure meaning. Have at hand a diversity of nonverbal techniques for student expression. A multidimensional approach makes it more possible to access the inner person. Photographs and artwork make it possible to go beyond talking; they speak a language of sensation and symbolization. The distinctive benefits of using photographs and artwork are stimulation and motivation, definition and elucidation.
Going to School in Unequal America
Authors: Elliott Willliam , Lewis Melinda
Published: November 2020

In the United States, the education system is more than just a mechanism for transmitting knowledge. It is the nation’s most powerful tool for creating economic opportunities and helping individuals secure a good quality of life and parents’ primary plan for securing the well-being of their children. As such, educational attainment is often touted as the proverbial “key to the kingdom” that puts those who hold it on the path to prosperity. This link between economic mobility and education sets the United States apart from much of the rest of the developed world, where most countries have strong welfare systems that allow individuals to succeed routinely without postsecondary education. This international contrast provides an important framework for understanding how the role of education aligns with how Americans see themselves and their futures. More specifically, Americans vest their hopes in education as a means of getting ahead instead of relying on a generous welfare state that ensures that “nobody is in need”—the predominant view, for example, among Europeans. Crucially, the institution of education is supposed to work equally for all Americans, regardless of their starting point. This belief in education as a force for equity as well as opportunity was ensconced in its foundations, as articulated by Horace Mann in 1848, “Education then, beyond all other devices of human origin, is a great equalizer of the conditions of men—the balance wheel of the social machinery.” It persists, extolled by Arne Duncan, US Secretary of Education in the Obama Administration, “In America, education is still the great equalizer” and National Education Association President Dennis Van Roekel, “Education is the great equalizer . . . opening doors of opportunity for all.” However, there are signs that Americans increasingly doubt the viability of these egalitarian ideals and question whether education can truly realize the promise of a better future. In 2014, only 64% of Americans reported that they still believe in the American dream.
The Battle to Define Life Chances and the Distributional Consequences of the Current Education and Economic Systems in America
Authors: Elliott Willliam , Lewis Melinda
Published: November 2020

Our stories serve to illustrate that divergent experiences are not primarily the result of different choices or preferences. Willie’s route to and through higher education was often perilous and frustrating because he lacked the resources with which to maneuver and bend institutions in order to meet his needs. In contrast, Melinda’s college aspirations were encouraged and rewarded by the same institutions because she had the resources to make them work for her. As stark as these different routes were, if the gap in our families’ wealth had ceased to matter once we got our degrees, some might still argue that higher education is “working” as a leveler. Sure, Willie had to try harder, wait longer, and forego many opportunities, but isn’t it where you end up that really matters? Our stories suggest that the answer to this question is a resounding “No.” Instead, our lives continue to be marked by the effects of wealth inequality and by the substantial differences in how the education system treats those who start with money and those working to get it. This is the thesis of this chapter: that wealth inequality is not just another manifestation of unfairness in US society but instead a primary force determining how people fare, including in the institutions that are supposed to catalyze equitable opportunities. Our lives reveal how assets chart one’s course not only at the beginning of a college career but also well into a college graduate’s future. In Willie’s case, even though it has been more than nine years since he graduated from his PhD program, student debt still compromises his ability to leverage his relatively high salary to secure sound financial footing. His lingering financial instability is rooted in the economic disadvantages of his family of origin, but, critically, it was not erased when he graduated.
Moving from the Status Quo to a 21st-Century Financial Aid System
Authors: Elliott Willliam , Lewis Melinda
Published: November 2020

With the creation of the first federal student loans as part of the National Defense Education Act of 1958, the US postsecondary financial aid system was set on a path from which it has not fundamentally deviated in the intervening decades. While college financing has trended almost inexorably toward greater reliance on student borrowing as costs have outpaced families’ incomes, the major components of the financing “mix” have remained unchanged. Financial aid policy is sometimes tweaked around the edges to lighten the burden of student debt, give colleges a competitive edge, or address undesirable disincentives. For the most part, however, these reforms bear more resemblance to the classic “shell game” than to authentic innovations. What American students need are more powerful tools with which to approach their futures—tools that help them prepare for higher education, persist to completion, and then leverage returns on their degrees. What they get, however, are repackaged versions of the same blunt instruments. While everyone wants improved outcomes from our financial aid investments, the nation’s apparent inability or unwillingness to innovate truly novel approaches to paying for higher education stands in the way of progress. The goal of financial aid policy has been narrowly framed as only helping young adults pay for college, a low bar that completely ignores the role financial aid could play in influencing early education, postsecondary completion, and post-college financial health. As a result, instead of receiving support at critical junctures along the opportunity pipeline to a prosperous adulthood, students are largely left to their own devices except at the moment when the tuition bill becomes due. To capitalize on the resulting missed opportunities, the United States needs more than different loan repayment schedules or loosened rules on grant disbursement. What we need is a fundamental shift in how we think about financing higher education and what we believe about why it matters.
Stephen Jay Gould’s Books: The Balanced Sublime
Authors: Gross Alan G.
Published: November 2020

In questioning the millennium, Stephen Jay Gould tells the story of an autistic child, a mentally challenged young man who nevertheless can tell in a flash the day you were born given the date you were born. Gould studies his subject until he understands the way this feat is accomplished. He realizes that every 28 years there is a consistent unit—28 extra days over the standard 52 weeks plus seven days for leap years, the equivalent of five weeks. His subject . . . had added up extra days laboriously until he came to 28 years—the first span that always adds exactly the same total number of extra days, with the sum of extra days exactly divisible by seven. Every 28 years includes 35 extra days, and 35 extra days makes five weeks. You see, he had given me the right answer to my question—but I had not understood him at first. I had asked: “Is there anything special about the number 28 when you figure out the day of the week for dates in different years?” and he had answered: “Yes . . . five weeks.” May we all make such excellent use of our special skills, whatever and however limited they may be, as we pursue the most noble of all our mental activities in trying to make sense of this wonderful world, and the small part we must play in the history of life. Actually, I didn’t quote his beautiful answer fully. He said to me: “Yes, Daddy, five weeks.” His name is Jesse. He is my firstborn son, and I am very proud of him. . . . This anecdote exemplifies Stephen Jay Gould’s passionate interest in science; equally, it testifies to his dispassionate pursuit of the science that interests him, a probing skepticism that with patient effort yields the correct answer. For Gould the scientist it is of no interest that his experimental subject is his son.
Oxidation of Organic Functional Groups
Authors: Taber Douglass F.
Published: November 2020

Cancheng Guo of Hunan University devised (J. Org. Chem. 2014, 79, 2709) con­ditions for the oxidative cleavage of an alkyne 1 to the esters 2 and 3. Hirokazu Arimoto of Tohoku University found (Chem. Commun. 2014, 50, 2758) that IBX oxidized a primary alcohol 4 to the acid 5 one carbon shorter. David Milstein of the Weizmann Institute of Science uncovered (J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2014, 136, 2998) condi­tions for the direct oxidation of the cyclic amine 6 to the lactam 7, with concomitant evolution of H₂. Cyclic ene sulfonamides such as 9 are versatile synthetic intermediates. Henri Doucet of the Université de Rennes reported (Adv. Synth. Catal. 2014, 356, 119) the regioselective conversion of 8 to 9. In this case, the oxidizing agent was the organo-PdBr intermediate. There have been many reports of the functionalization of the oxygenated carbons of cyclic ethers, as exemplified by the conversion of 10 to 11, observed (J. Org. Chem. 2014, 79, 3847) by Jianlin Han of Nanjing University. If these methods were regiose­lective with an acyclic benzyl ether, this could be a new method for the removal of that common protecting group. Jianliang Xiao of the University of Liverpool described (J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2014, 136, 8350) a selective benzylic ether oxidation that converted 12 to 13. Baris Temelli of Hacettepe University effected (Synthesis 2014, 46, 1407) the conversion of a primary nitro compound 14 into the corresponding nitrile 15. Jean- Michel Vatèle of Université Lyon 1 oxidized (Synlett 2014, 25, 1275) the primary alcohol 16 to the nitrile 17. Many methods have been put forward for the oxidation of primary alcohols to alde­hydes and secondary alcohols to ketones. Piperidinium oxy radicals such as TEMPO are widely used to catalyze this transformation. Yoshikazu Kimura of Iharanikkei Chemical Industry Co. Ltd. established (Synlett 2014, 25, 596) a manufacturing proc­ess for crystalline NaOCl•5H₂O that served as the bulk oxidant for the conversion of 18 to 19. Neither a ketone nor an aldehyde was chlorinated under the reaction condi­tions. Yoshiharu Iwabuchi of Tohoku University showed (Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2014, 53, 3236) that with his piperidinium oxy radical AZADO and Cu catalysis, air could be the bulk oxidant for the otherwise difficult conversion of the amino alcohol 20 to the amino ketone 21.
Selective Functionalization of C–H Bonds
Authors: Taber Douglass F.
Published: November 2020

Jianhui Huang and Kang Zhao of Tianjin University devised (Chem. Commun. 2013, 49, 1211) a protocol for the oxidation of a terminal alkene 1 to the valuable four-carbon synthon 2. M. Christina White of the University of Illinois effected (J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2013, 135, 7831) the oxidation of the terminal alkene 3 to the enone 4. Miquel Costas of the Universitat de Girona developed (J. Org. Chem. 2013, 78, 1421; Chem. Eur. J. 2013, 19, 1908) a family of Fe catalysts for the oxidation of methylenes to ketones. Depending on the catalyst, any of the three ketones from the oxidation of 5, including 6, could be made the dominant product. Yumei Xiao and Zhaohai Qin of China Agricultural University optimized (Synthesis 2013, 45, 615) the Co-catalyzed oxidation of the methyl group of 7 to give the aldehyde 8. Thanh Binh Nguyen of CNRS Gif-sur-Yvette established (J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2013, 135, 118) a protocol (not illustrated) for the oxidation of methyl groups on heteroaromatics. Shunsuke Chiba of Nanyang Technological University cyclized (Org. Lett. 2013, 15, 212, 3214) the amidine 9 to 10, and the hydrazone 11 to 12. These cyclizations proceeded by sequential C–H abstraction followed by recombination, and so were racemizing. In contrast, the conversion of 13 to 14, developed (Science 2013, 340, 591) by Theodore A. Betley of Harvard University, proceeded with substantial reten­tion of absolute configuration. Tsutomu Katsuki of Kyushu University designed (Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2013, 52, 1739) a Ru catalyst that was selective for the allylic position of the E-alkene 15 to give 16. Amination was highly regioselective, and proceeded with excellent ee. Ilhyong Ryu of Osaka Prefecture University and Maurizio Fagnoni of the University of Pavia reported (Org. Lett. 2013, 15, 2554) the direct carbonylation of 17 to the amide 18. David W. C. MacMillan of Princeton University devised (Science 2013, 339, 1593) a protocol for the β- arylation of an aldehyde 19 to give 20. Directed palladation of distal C–H bonds continues to be developed. Srinivasarao Arulananda Babu of the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research effected (Org. Lett. 2013, 15, 3238) diastereoselective arylation of the cyclopropane 21 with 22 to give 23.
C–H Functionalization: The Maimone Synthesis of Podophyllotoxin
Authors: Taber Douglass F.
Published: November 2020

Matthias Beller of the Universität Rostock developed (Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2014, 53, 6477) a Rh catalyst for the acceptorless dehydrogenation of an alkane 1 to the alkene 2. Bhisma K. Patel of the Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati effected (Org. Lett. 2014, 16, 3086) oxidation of cyclohexane 3 and 4 to form the allylic benzoate 5. Justin Du Bois of Stanford University devised (Chem. Sci. 2014, 5, 656) an organocatalyst that mediated the hydroxylation of 6 to 7. Vladimir Gevorgyan of the University of Illinois, Chicago hydrosilylated (Nature Chem. 2014, 6, 122) 8 to give an intermediate that, after Ir-catalyzed intramolecular C–H functionalization followed by oxidation, was converted to the diacetate 9. Sukbok Chang of KAIST used (J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2014, 136, 4141) the methoxime of 10 to direct selective amination of the adjacent methyl group, leading to 11. John F. Hartwig of the University of California, Berkeley effected (J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2014, 136, 2555) diastereoselective Cu-catalyzed amination of 12 with 13 to make 14. David W. C. MacMillan of Princeton University accomplished (J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2014, 136, 6858) β-alkylation of the aldehyde 15 with acrylonitrile 16 to give 17. Yunyang Wei of the Nanjing University of Science and Technology alkenylated (Chem. Sci. 2014, 5, 2379) cyclohexane 3 with the styrene 18, leading to 19. Bin Wu of the Kunming Institute of Botany described (Org. Lett. 2014, 16, 480) the Pd-mediated cyclization of 20 to 21. Similar results using Cu catalysis were reported (Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2014, 53, 3496, 3706) by Yoichiro Kuninobu and Motomu Kanai of the University of Tokyo and by Haibo Ge of IUPUI. Jin-Quan Yu of Scripps La Jolla constructed (J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2014, 136, 5267) the lactam 24 by γ-alkenyl­ation of the amide 22 with 23, followed by cyclization. Philippe Dauban of CNRS Gif-sur-Yvette prepared (Eur. J. Org. Chem. 2014, 66) the useful crystalline chiron 27 by asymmetric amination of the enol triflate 26 with 25. Matthew J. Gaunt of the University of Cambridge showed (J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2014, 136, 8851) that the phenylative cyclization of 28 with 29 to 30 proceeded with near-perfect retention of absolute configuration.
C–C Bond Construction: The Zhu Synthesis of Goniomitine
Authors: Taber Douglass F.
Published: November 2020

Non-enolizable β-keto esters such as 3 are fragile and difficult to prepare. Karl J. Hale of Queen’s University Belfast devised (Org. Lett. 2013, 15, 370) soft enolization con­ditions for methoxycarbonylation of 1 with 2. Zheng Huang of the Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry coupled (Org. Lett. 2013, 15, 1144) 4 with 5 under Ir catalysis to make 6. Tomoya Miura and Masahiro Murakami of Kyoto University combined (Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2013, 52, 3883) the diazo precursor 8 with the allylic alco­hol 7 to give 9, the product of Claisen rearrangement. Tsuyoshi Satoh of the Tokyo University of Science showed (Tetrahedron Lett. 2013, 54, 2533) that the combina­tion of the carbenoid 10 with a ketone enolate 11 led to the cyclopropanol (not illus­trated). Jin Kun Cha of Wayne State University found (Org. Lett. 2013, 15, 1780) that such cyclopropanols coupled with an acid chloride 12 under Pd catalysis to give the diketone 13. Christopher J. O’Brien of Dublin City University established (Chem. Eur. J. 2013, 19, 5854) conditions for the catalytic Wittig reaction of 14 with 15 to give 16, with in situ reduction of the phosphine oxide. Amir H. Hoveyda of Boston College showed (Org. Lett. 2013, 15, 1414) that the allene of 17 underwent selective borylation, lead­ing after coupling with 18 to the triene 19. Damian W. Young of the Broad Institute demonstrated (Org. Lett. 2013, 15, 1218) that ring-closing metathesis gave the alkenyl silane 20 with high geometric control. Halogenation to give 21 could then proceed with either retention or inversion of alkene geometry. Jianwei Sun of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and Zigang Li of the Shenzen Graduate School of Peking University condensed (J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2013, 135, 4680) the alkyne 22 with 23 to give the trisubstituted alkene 24 with high geometric control. The condensation worked equally well with medium and large ring ethers. Hua-Jian Xu of the Hefei University of Technology combined (Org. Lett. 2013, 15, 1472) the bromo alkyne 25 with the carboxylate 26 to give the nitrile 27.
C–C Bond Construction: The Hou Synthesis of (−)-Brevipolide H
Authors: Taber Douglass F.
Published: November 2020

Yao Fu and Lei Liu of the University of Science and Technology of China devised (Chem. Eur. J. 2014, 20, 15334) conditions for the coupling of a halide 2 with a tosyl­ate 1 with inversion of absolute configuration, leading to 3. Hegui Gong of Shanghai University coupled (J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2014, 136, 17645) the glucosyl bromide 4 with an anhydride 5 to give the ketone 6. Luigi Vaccaro of the Università di Perugia showed (Org. Lett. 2014, 16, 5721) that TBAF promoted the opening of the epoxide 7 with the ketene silyl acetal 8, leading to the lactone 9. Valérie Desvergnes and Yannick Landais of the University of Bordeaux assembled (Chem. Eur. J. 2014, 20, 9336) the diketone 12 by using a Stetter catalyst to promote the conjugate addition of the acyl silane 11 to the enone 10. Thomas Werner of the Leibniz-Institute for Catalysis reported (Eur. J. Org. Chem. 2014, 6873) the enantioselective conversion of the prochiral triketone 13 to the bicyclic enone 15 by an intramolecular Wittig reaction, mediated by 14. Elizabeth H. Krenske of the University of Queensland and Christopher J. O’Brien also reported (Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2014, 53, 12907) progress (not illustrated) on catalytic Wittig reactions. Michael J. Krische of the University of Texas showed (J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2014, 136, 11902) that Ru-mediated addition of 17 to the aldehyde derived in situ from 16 gave 18 with high Z-selectivity. Vladimir Gevorgyan of the University of Illinois at Chicago constructed (J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2014, 136, 17926) the trisubstituted alkene 20 by the intramolecular Heck cyclization of 19. Kálmán J. Szabó of Stockholm University opti­mized (Chem. Commun. 2014, 50, 9207) the Pd-catalyzed borylation of the alkene 21 followed by in situ addition to the aldehyde 22 to give 23. Boris A. Trofimov of the Irkutsk Institute of Chemistry Siberian Branch devel­oped (Eur. J. Org. Chem. 2014, 4663) aqueous conditions for the preparation of a propargylic alcohol 26 by the addition of an alkyne 25 to the ketone 24. Huanfeng Jiang of the South China University of Technology prepared (Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2014, 53, 14485) the alkyne 28 by the oxidative elimination of the tosylhydrazone 27.