August 22, 2025Aug 22 Dear Folks, If you are the same as I, then you might often stand aghast at just how much you have forgotten in recent decades, meaning Topics such as inorganic/orgainic Chemistry, and many other useful things, knowledge which was very hard won, when we were younger. Why did we even spend so many torturous hours gaining this knowledge, in the first place, if it is to finally be lost to us, as the sands of time trickle through the hourglass? Is this not just one more example of the tragedy of Life? So here, I would like to focus on JUST Chemistry, as a test case…. What might happen to our minds if we were to spend one hour each day re-learning what we think we might have forgotten? And, the question also begs: HAVE WE, truly, forgotten what we think we might have forgotten? OR, is what we might think we have forgotten still lurking just below the surface of the cortex? And, what might prove to be the best strategy for bringing into the foreground, what is probably now buried in the background of the brain? Chemistry is quite unique in that Chemistry requires far more memorization than, say, Physics. Maybe this is why many students find the learning of Chemistry so dislikable, a well known fact among science learners. There is one man on TV who has a Very Excellent memory, and it is therefore no surprise that he should enjoy the learning and the practice of Chemistry. However, not all of us can be so lucky as he. Also, the question of WHY we should re-learn Chemistry is very easily answered: We need to re-learn Chemistry in order to understand Biochemistry in order to gain a feel for what is happening in the cell. Everybody here should clearly understand that there is just NO WAY that we can do justice to the study of molecular biology without a deeper grasp of both Chemistry and Physics. Biochemistry, at its very heart, is the study of the ENERGY RELATIONSHIPS in the cell. Therefore, need I say more? Physics and Chemistry are all about understanding of energy transfer, and you really cannot gain an understanding of energy transfer without frist knowing Chemistry and Physics. This is why we, even if we be adult/geriatric students, must still re-learn all that we have forgotten about Chemistry, during the intervening years, since uni, and up until this day, August 22, 2025. In my view, re-learning what one might imagine one has forgotten can be both a joyous and glorious experience. In addition; I am convinced that dedication to such a project can enhance the functioning of the brain, and make our days that much more pleasurable, even while riding motorcycles on local roads, or ordering food using the local language. Chemistry, itself, is not difficult. But, as I have implied above, the gift of a “superior memory” is indispensable. Although still undecided, and this decision is still up in the air: IF I “Choose to Take-on this Mission Impossible", which I think is actually not impossible, then I may need to spend more of my time watching the MIT lectures, and doing the problem solving exercises recommended by the prof giving the lectures on MIT OpenCourseWare. For sure, I think I will not be able to do BOTH my scribblings AND do justice to my Chemistry re-learning project. As well, I hope my dedication to the re-learning of freshman Chemistry might be an inspiration to others. Sure, we can do this. The question, the only question, is….Do YOU have the will. And, do I have the will and the intestinal fortitude to actually carry this off in an admirable way? Once again, we might ask the question: a. Why spend the time to re-learn Chemistry at our advanced ages? The best logical answer to question A is….to ask the question…. b. Why did we learn Chemistry, at the university level, IN THE FIRST PLACE? Thankfully, we live in a Free World. We have the freedoms to do what we want. And, if it is our choice to spend time re-learning Chemistry, then there is nobody to stop us. Also, the choice to re-learn Chemistry is FREE, on the MIT website, as in….FREE BEER. I am looking forward to my new endeavor. I hope you will follow me lead….. MAY THE FORCE BE WITH US….!!!! Best regards, And…. I love the smell of methane in the mornings…through the miracle of methanogenesis, and anaerobic respiration. Yours Truly, Gamma Please Note: I have purposely not posted any links to the various Chemistry lecture series available on the MIT OpenCourseWare site. What might be good for my goose, might not be so good for your gander. However, if there is any Popular Demand that I do post my suggestions, then please let me know in the comment section, and I will do my best to oblige. Or, alternatively, you can post your own CourseWare links. Happy Chemistry Learning….to All… And, to ALL, a Good Night….!!!!
August 22, 2025Aug 22 It is nice of you to post this, but chemistry is not that interesting a subject unless you plan to become a scientist in the field. There is little practical knowledge for day-to-day life in basic chemistry. I found trigonometry not very useful, and someone told me he designed his lawn using trig. I was underwhelmed.
August 22, 2025Aug 22 What is this chemistry you speak of? I have no idea really. Somewhere between high school explosions and Netflix documentaries about atoms maybe? I lost track. All I know is I do not have it. How can I be sure? Well, once a very attractive women was giving me a BJ, and I let one slip. She stopped mid-action and declared, with the solemnity of a scientist presenting a Nobel Prize, that we didn’t have any chemistry. So apparently chemistry is the magical invisible force that makes farting during intimate acts desirably unacceptable. Who knew? Maybe two people can lack it simultaneously, maybe it is the reason we have bad dates, traffic jams, and socks that vanish in the laundry. Does anyone really need it anyway? Perhaps yes if you want oral favors. But personally, I am considering a lifestyle free of chemistry, experiments be damned. The world might survive. I might survive. And if I do not, at least I will have a good story about science failing me at the worst possible moment.
August 22, 2025Aug 22 Author 3 minutes ago, Purdey said: It is nice of you to post this, but chemistry is not that interesting a subject unless you plan to become a scientist in the field. There is little practical knowledge for day-to-day life in basic chemistry. I found trigonometry not very useful, and someone told me he designed his lawn using trig. I was underwhelmed. In my humble opinion, anything interesting, or of import, to be read in the NYT requires understanding of the Natural Sciences. This is the fallacy of some people, as you mention, that they do not understand the importance of the Natural Sciences. And, as we all know, Guam is sinking, under the weight of too many humans inhabiting the tiny island.
August 22, 2025Aug 22 Author 6 minutes ago, Purdey said: It is nice of you to post this, but chemistry is not that interesting a subject unless you plan to become a scientist in the field. There is little practical knowledge for day-to-day life in basic chemistry. I found trigonometry not very useful, and someone told me he designed his lawn using trig. I was underwhelmed. Also, please correct me if I might be mistaken, but some of us do not spend time learning a field of knowledge solely based on the question of whether or not it might be useful to us, in the practical sense.....although..... Certainly, the relearning of Chemistry might have many practical advantages for us, not to mention protecting our brains, as just one minor result of this re-learning.
August 22, 2025Aug 22 9 minutes ago, Purdey said: It is nice of you to post this, but chemistry is not that interesting a subject unless you plan to become a scientist in the field. There is little practical knowledge for day-to-day life in basic chemistry. I found trigonometry not very useful, and someone told me he designed his lawn using trig. I was underwhelmed. I must say that I do not agree with you. If you're interested in food preparation, cooking is all basic chemistry. And as far as trigonometry, my aunt was complaining about her neighbor growing very tall trees on his property border. She didn't even know how tall they were. Using simple trigonometry, I calculated the height, and she took her complaint to the town council. But I will also argue that if you spend all your working life as a coal miner or a similar blue collar profession, you would have little use for chemistry or trigonometry. But then, you would most probably never have attended an university in the first place.
August 22, 2025Aug 22 Author 6 minutes ago, SpaceKadet said: If you're interested in food preparation I NEVER stated such a thing.
August 22, 2025Aug 22 Popular Post Chemistry is really handy if you need to dispose of a body. https://people.com/john-haigh-serial-killer-acid-bath-murders-11692864 Just saying "I don't want to know why you can't. I want to know how you can!"
August 22, 2025Aug 22 1 minute ago, GammaGlobulin said: I NEVER stated such a thing. I have not implied that you had.... But the fact still remains that cooking is basic chemistry, and all the big chefs use it to their advantage.
August 22, 2025Aug 22 Author Just now, Oliver Holzerfilled said: This simple statement is ANYTHING BUT trite. It goes to the heart of all science now being taught, beginning at grade 6, in elementary schools. Bravo to Rutherford for stating the obvious, even way before the understanding of the importance of crystallography. And, the importance of biological interactions at the subatomic level.
August 22, 2025Aug 22 Author 1 minute ago, Crossy said: Chemistry is really handy if you need to dispose of a body. Just saying When they dispose of my body....at the local temple.... You mean?
August 22, 2025Aug 22 21 minutes ago, Crossy said: Chemistry is really handy if you need to dispose of a body. https://people.com/john-haigh-serial-killer-acid-bath-murders-11692864 Just saying Like those who think up these articles for AN. 😉
August 22, 2025Aug 22 37 minutes ago, GammaGlobulin said: When they dispose of my body....at the local temple.... You mean? I think that process is more physics than chemistry...
August 22, 2025Aug 22 Author 31 minutes ago, SpaceKadet said: I think that process is more physics than chemistry... Think what you like.
August 22, 2025Aug 22 Author 52 minutes ago, Gandtee said: Like those who think up these articles for AN. 😉 Maybe, soon, you will begin to appreciate those who think up these articles for AN.... Once they begin to die off, for whatever reason. Please be cautious about that which you might wish for. And, I am speaking to the RABBIT, just for starters.
August 22, 2025Aug 22 1 hour ago, Crossy said: Chemistry is really handy if you need to dispose of a body. https://people.com/john-haigh-serial-killer-acid-bath-murders-11692864 Just saying Just in time for post Xmas party.
August 22, 2025Aug 22 Author 26 minutes ago, GammaGlobulin said: Maybe, soon, you will begin to appreciate those who think up these articles for AN.... IMHO....there are those here on AN who see me as nothing but..... a. A gift horse. b. They don't appreciate my value on TV. c. They believe I am ready for the Glue Factory. d. They look me in the mouth. Are they not shortsighted, or nearsighted, or, do they just not understand my good qualities? Just because a writer is old and humorous, should this writer be cast aside, and misunderstood, as being completely without value to the forum? Sincerely speaking, I do my best. But, is my best ever appreciated for what it is? So depressing, really, because.... All I seem to get is THUMBS DOWN, minute by minute. And, for that matter, were the Doobie Brothers every sufficiently appreciated? They sang their hearts out...AND....For WHAT????? Sometimes, no mater how much we dedicate our lives to DOING GOOD.... We will always remain very underappreciated. Makes me sick at heart....sometimes.... I will keep rolling on...as long as I can. But, I can tell you.... With every year, here, it becomes ever more difficult to keep my spirits up. THIS is why I now so much enjoy the BIRDS on my lawn..... Especially the beautiful birds who poke holes in it..... Please NOTE: Someday, maybe soon, I will invest in a far better keyboard for my computer. This will reduce typos, .....maybe....
August 22, 2025Aug 22 I can still recall the chemistry I need when contributing to a thread on ASEAN, in general terms. However, the thermodynamic equations I had stored in my brain cells, as if written on tablets of stone, have gone. I still understand their significance, and application to our lives, but life is too short to learn them all over again. Possibly the toughest curriculum subject in the science field- ever.
August 22, 2025Aug 22 1 hour ago, GammaGlobulin said: Think what you like. Well, you can believe what you want to believe, sir. But at the end of the day, it's just like Rutherford said (quoted above), it's all physics. Strings vibrate, dimensions fold and unfold, quarks interact to create hadrons, which create atomic nuclei, etc, etc.... And heat is just simply the energy state of the atoms. Last I checked, it was chemistry that obeyed the rules of physics, not the other way around.
August 22, 2025Aug 22 Author 40 minutes ago, Lacessit said: I can still recall the chemistry I need when contributing to a thread on ASEAN, in general terms. However, the thermodynamic equations I had stored in my brain cells, as if written on tablets of stone, have gone. I still understand their significance, and application to our lives, but life is too short to learn them all over again. Possibly the toughest curriculum subject in the science field- ever. Yes. I agree. Chemistry/thermodynamics is hard. But, Maxwell's Equations, when one derives them from basic knowns, as a thought exercise, is harder. And, speaking of THERMODYNAMICS, and ......WORK, WORK, WORK...... I hope that you will not mind if I, once again, remind you of my favorite tune for jogging my memory about Thermodynamics and WORK..... There is PLENTY of CHEMISTRY for EVERYONE in this great song.... I love it when.... The Piston goes.... Up and Down..... Work, Work, Work....
August 22, 2025Aug 22 5 minutes ago, GammaGlobulin said: Yes. I agree. Chemistry/thermodynamics is hard. But, Maxwell's Equations, when one derives them from basic knowns, as a thought exercise, is harder. And, speaking of THERMODYNAMICS, and ......WORK, WORK, WORK...... I hope that you will not mind if I, once again, remind you of my favorite tune for jogging my memory about Thermodynamics and WORK..... There is PLENTY of CHEMISTRY for EVERYONE in this great song.... or this one?
August 22, 2025Aug 22 Author 7 minutes ago, Lacessit said: or this one? Never synthesize anything I would not synthesize....
August 22, 2025Aug 22 4 hours ago, GammaGlobulin said: Do you stand aghast at the Chemistry you have forgotten? Nope.
August 22, 2025Aug 22 10 minutes ago, GammaGlobulin said: Never synthesize anything I would not synthesize.... Too late. I lost my position of laboratory monitor in secondary school when I set up the Ostwald synthesis of nitric oxide. The teacher was impressed by the exotherm I got on the platinum foil between two streams of ammonia and oxygen, but not enough to keep me. He thought I was too adventurous. He was right, unknown to him I had already compounded several explosives, and was researching how to make nitroglycerin.
August 22, 2025Aug 22 Author 11 minutes ago, Lacessit said: Too late. I lost my position of laboratory monitor in secondary school when I set up the Ostwald synthesis of nitric oxide. The teacher was impressed by the exotherm I got on the platinum foil between two streams of ammonia and oxygen, but not enough to keep me. He thought I was too adventurous. He was right, unknown to him I had already compounded several explosives, and was researching how to make nitroglycerin. Picric Acid is a wonderful thing.....
August 22, 2025Aug 22 I deeply regret not studying Chemistry as a degree. That would have been by far the most fascinating and useful subject
August 22, 2025Aug 22 Author 48 minutes ago, Lacessit said: Too late. Speaking of things left TOO LATE..... aa. As I recall, a few years ago, I mentioned to you that I missed out on a great opportunity to have a fling with my best friend's mother, when I was seventeen. bb. And not, I do not wish to miss out on my final opportunity to re-learn, and recall, my Chemistry, of my college years. cc. THIS is the main reason I have decided to invest a bit of time on the MIT website.... EVEN IF it might mean that I will, so sadly, be unable to spend as much time, as usual, posting my useless Topics on TV. dd. Still, when all is said and done, one must do what is best for oneself, rather than the majority, on TV. ee. I hope that readers here will forgive me, and my decision to spend my time on even more worthwhile pursuits....such as CHEMISTRY.....which I know is near and dear to your heart. ff. This evening, I have experienced just so much ANGST, about my missed opportunity to screw my best friend's mother that....now that I am in the twilight of my years, according to Sinatra, I must take the bull by the horns, and just buckle down, and use the free source at MIT, to listen to the lectures, and do all of the suggested exercises, in order to preserve my mind, while there is still time. gg. You are a great speller. And, facetiousness aside, the ability to spell accurately, and effortlessly, is a sign of one having a decent memory capacity. I am one of the worst spellers on TV, as you have rightfully made clear, and I DO agree. It might be too late for me to become a great speller. Yet, if I work hard given the free resources available to me on the MIT website...then.... I will be able to, one day..... HOLD MY HEAD HIGH..... Please wish me luck, Sir.... a. I missed out screwing my best friend's wife at age 17. b. MIT is still waiting for me, after all these years. c. If I work hard, I can still recall all that I have lost, these past decades. d. Please, if anything..... GIVE ME A WORD of ENCOURAGEMENT...... All is not lost, at our age, if only we will have faith and remain full of optimism. You and I can set an example and a HIGHER-BAR for the other posters on TV. What say you? Don't do her course....is my BEST advice.... There are two better courses in first year Chemistry at MIT....as everybody knows..... The video attached seems to be for NON-CHEM Majors.....
August 22, 2025Aug 22 Author 1 hour ago, SpaceKadet said: Well, you can believe what you want to believe, sir. But at the end of the day, it's just like Rutherford said (quoted above), it's all physics. Strings vibrate, dimensions fold and unfold, quarks interact to create hadrons, which create atomic nuclei, etc, etc.... And heat is just simply the energy state of the atoms. Last I checked, it was chemistry that obeyed the rules of physics, not the other way around. Please check again. I never said that everything does not begin with Physics.
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