Chemistry in Teaching: How to Overcome the Alchemist’s Way of Thinking

Povijest alkemije nije samo povijest uzaludne potrage za kamenom mudraca niti povijest uzaludnih pokušaja transmutacije elemenata kemijskim metodama – iza alkemije krije se osebujna teorija koja na kemijske promjene gleda kao na procese sazrijevanja. S druge pak strane, fizička svojstva tvari alkemijska teorija smatra njihovim bitnim obilježjima, uzrocima a ne samo posljedicama kemijskih promjena. U ovom članku dati su i primjeri takvog shvaćanja, koje nalazimo u svakodnevnom životu (uključujući i “ljekovitost” smeđeg šećera), koja bi valjalo prevladati sustavnom kemijskom izobrazbom.The history of alchemy is not simply the history of a futile search for the philosopher’s stone, neither the history of misunderstanding of the nature of chemical reactions; alchemy had its own theory of chemical changes that saw in them the processes of maturation. Physical properties of matter were essential to alchemists, and they were not only the results, but also the causes of chemical changes. This way of thinking is present even in our times, and it has to be overcome by systematic chemical education. In this contribution, a few examples of such thinking are given, including the belief in the “health benefits” of brown sugar