THE ROLE OF SCIENCE IN LIBERAL EDUCATION 499 



further study. They believe that scientific theories of the future 

 will be entirely statistical, eliminating every vestige of causal 

 determinism. This, they say, is indicated by the present status 

 of quantum mechanics and the principle of uncertainty. 

 Against this background of doubt and disagreement, it is essen- 

 tial to train young minds how to find certitude and how to 

 distinguish it from hypothesis. From the very beginning of 

 scientific studies, the student must recognize when the subject 

 matter is capable of true demonstration, and when the limits of 

 science are so close that the available evidence can give us 

 only great probability. If the student can sense in his studies 

 the healthy security of " knowing what he knows," there is 

 less likelihood of his succumbing to the universal skepticism of 

 many modern scientists. 



Within the chemistry and physics courses much of the usual 

 material is deleted or reordered. Organization and selection 

 depend on two specific objectives of the secondary physical 

 science courses: 



1 . Students must see the need and actually apply the liberal 

 arts of mathematics and logic within the framework of 

 physical science. 



2. The important facts, basic principles and fundamental 

 theories of physical science must be studied in a sequence 

 that will necessarily demonstrate the interrelation of 

 these ideas into a unified whole. 



A chemistry course based on three fundamental theories of 

 matter — atomic, kinetic molecular and electronic — provides the 

 necessary logical order, penetration and basic interrelation so 

 often missed in the typical descriptive course. The history of 

 science is used throughout the physical scien^^e courses, but 

 merely as a tool for learning and not as an ordering principle. 

 An adaptation of the Physical Science Study Committee Course 

 provides the student with those basic concepts of kinematics 

 and dynamics necessary for an understanding of modern physics 

 and a vivid realization of the power of mathematics as a tool 

 for measurement, for generalization and for speculation. 



