Chemistry - Essay Example

Chemistry Order No. 231481 No. of Pages: 5 Premium 6530 Introduction Chemistry is one that plays a very major role in our daily livesand has a great impact on society in general as we interact with people and things in our environment. Chemistry acts as a sort of a fulcrum, around which everything else revolves- be it the food we eat, the clothes we wear, the sports and hobbies we pursue or even the places we visit. But above all these things Chemistry has a great impact on relationships between people. The degree of its impact highly depends on the kind of relationship one shares with another person. The American Chemical Society was founded in the year 1876, at the University Building in the present day New York University. (National Historic Chemical Landmarks, 2001) John W. Draper was its first president, who headed a small group of people who were extremely interested and lend support to scientific research in the in the field of Chemistry. The ACS is a non- profit organization that holds specific conferences in chemistry and publishes scholarly journals that include the ‘Journal of American Chemical Society. 1 Description and why you chose it: Human beings are an integral part of society and as such are constantly interacting to people and things in the society. Hence, the topic I chose is about human relationships in an ever changing society because I felt that it would make an interesting study. I would also like to discuss a bit on the chemistry that goes on behind various kinds of relationships and how society reacts to them. Humans are a class by themselves and are broadly distinguished from other groups such as animals, birds, plants, or for that matter, even inanimate or material things. Humans belong to the higher strata of living things, because essentially they are endowed with a brain to think and act as they please. Since each individual is unique, they have their own interests, likes and dislikes, belong to different institutions and participate in characteristic relationships. Yet, all humans belong to the same common culture of human beings. Biologically, humans have the capacity of belonging to different groups and enjoy interacting with them, because basically they enjoy companionship- unlike most animal species. Therefore, they are a species who love to nurture the sense of belonging and take a pride in good companionship. Some of these groups which encourage them to build and nurture such relationships are family, friends, school/college, hobbies and other common institutions such as jobs, sports and travel that help to build these 2 relationships. Relationship to chemistry Humans are one species that enjoy different kinds of relationships at varying degrees or levels. For example the relationship between parents and siblings would be quite different from the relationship between a husband and wife, brother and sister or a teacher and student. I often wonder, as to how the same person can react to so many different people in so many different ways. I am more than oft puzzled with the question as to what goes on behind a person’s reaction in different situations. The most simple answer that comes to my mind is that the chemical processes in the human body makes us react in different ways to different people in relation to different situations. Looking at our own personal lives and the relationship we share with our parents, friends and other associates makes us wonder as to how, one and the same person could react differently to different people. The relationship I share with my parents, is no way near anything that I share with my friends and for casual encounters with people we hardly know, our association with them is very short lived because we don’t place a lot of value on it. What happens then when two total strangers meet just fleetingly and “sparks fly”? How do we account for this? What actually happens? After all, they are almost 3 strangers. Chemistry and the societal implications French philosopher Hippolyte Taine, coined the term “human molecule” in 1869 as the definition of a person. In the early 20th century, the first theories relating to social, economic, and historical were developed by great people like C. G. Darwin, Henry Adams and others based on the theory of the “human molecule.” (Libb Thims, 2008) However, in the year 2000, American limnologists Robert Sterner and James Elser, created or formed the first calculation for a human being using the molecular formula. Human thermodynamics can be defined as a study of the transformation of energy, in human life that involves ‘a series of interconnected bond forming and bond breaking relationships or reactions.’ These relationships are based on human experiences such as in family, marriage, friendship, occupations and society in general. Chemistry forms the basis for human thermodynamics and as such helps human beings to react to different relationships, associations, friendships and societies. A good example of reaction to a relationship is ‘Love.’ Love at first sight cannot be considered as cliché, because it involves chemical reactions of hormones in our body. Such a situation can take place between total strangers just through one look. 4 The phrase of ‘opposites attract’ is true in every sense because such a situation such as attraction takes place due to a natural mix of chemicals and hormones in a person’s body. Sometimes the chemistry between couples is so strong that it is possible for them to survive as a couple in the worst of situations only because of the strong chemistry shared between them. Not everyone can be romantic, because romance requires a certain kind of chemistry to take place. Taking a survey of such couples who have overcome a lot of trials in their lives such as the death of a loved one, disease, depression and the like, Claudia Glenn Dowling inquires of actor Carroll OConnor of how couples survive hard situations, Carroll replied "Need is the thing that holds a marriage together over the long haul, If the need stops, the marriage stops."( Nuna Alberts,) Researchers all over the world are still carrying out various studies related to chemistry in correlation to human relationships. They are trying to find answers of what makes a human tick and how they cement and break bonds that bind them. Without a doubt Chemistry plays a major role among the various relationships we have in our lives bringing about interactions in relation to various people in the society. Chemistry, one of the most important branches of Science holds all the answers proving that it is a Science that forms the basis of all other Sciences. 5 References: American Chemical Society- National Historic Chemical Landmarks. http://acswebcontent.acs.org/landmarks/landmarks/draper/index Article: Nuna Alberts, The Science of Love (the chemistry of romance) Feb. 1991. Book: Libb Thims, “The Human Molecule”, United States, Lulu.com, 2008, pgs.120 Book: Libb Thims, “Human Chemistry”, United States, Lulu. Inc., 2007. Society: www.answers.com/topic/society Read More