The concept of orbital in university-level general chemistry textbooks in the twentieth century

• Grant number: 11/15295-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: March 01, 2012
• End date: December 31, 2013
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Chemistry
• Principal Investigator: Paulo Alves Porto
• Grantee: Evandro Fortes Rozentalski
• Host Institution: Instituto de Química (IQ). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The philosophy of chemistry as an autonomous, institutionalized area of philosophy of science is a discipline with less than two decades of existence. Despite its recent rise, since the 1990s approximately 700 articles and 40 monographs have been produced in philosophy of chemistry, making it the fastest growing area within the philosophy of science in recent years. One of the topics discussed within the philosophy of chemistry is related to scientific realism of chemical concepts, such as the concept of orbital. The ontological status of orbitals became object of intense debate since 1999, when Zuo et al. published a paper in Nature, whose editorial claimed that "the classic textbook shape of electron orbitals has now been directly observed". Scientific realism and, more specifically, the ontological status of orbitals, have implications for chemistry and chemical education. Thus, this research project aims at investigating how the concept of orbital was introduced in university-level general chemistry textbooks throughout the twentieth century. General chemistry textbooks most widely used in Brazilian universities were chosen among those that could be simultaneously found in the following Internet databases: library catalogues of the University of São Paulo and of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, and Estante Virtual catalogue, which gathers the collections of several Brazilian used books stores. Contemporary literature on philosophy of chemistry will furnish the theoretical framework for analyzing data collected from the textbooks.

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

EVANDRO ROZENTALSKI; PAULO ALVES PORTO. Diagramas de energia de orbitais em livros didáticos de Química Geral: uma análise sob o viés da semiótica Peirceana. Ciência e Educação, v. 24, n. 2, p. 449-466, 2018-04-00. (11/15295-0)

Academic Publications

(References retrieved automatically from State of São Paulo Research Institutions)

ROZENTALSKI, Evandro Fortes. Ontological and epistemological status of the concept of orbital in twentieth-century General Chemistry textbooks. 2013. Master's Dissertation - Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Instituto de Física (IF/SBI) São Paulo.