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This exercise is designed to correct the impression of many students that scientific facts are unchanging. Every scientific fact has a history and its history shapes the form which the fact takes in a textbook. Thus, the history of the octet rule is traced to show that scientific knowledge is not a cast iron set of facts but rather a fluid body of information shaped by the people who use it for specific purposes. The exercise consists of a reading and a set of discussion questions. The questions can be answered by students or could form the basis for a class discussion about the issues raised. It is suggested that the exercise be used after the lesson on the octet rule and Lewis dot structures. (JN)

1Boy Crusoe

By Allan Eric

Also published as" A Yankee Crusoe" . A 15 year old hard working and studious farm boy finds the lure of adventure on the seas as a merchant seaman more than he can resist. This is his story. " I was born in a little town in the State of Maine, near the close of the Civil War. My boyhood life did not differ materially from that of the average farmer's son in the remote country districts of New England--except, perhaps, that I read more and thought more. Hard work on the rugged soil, two terms each year in the little yellow country schoolhouse, a day's fishing now and then filled the early years of my life full to over-flowing. " What he gets is enough excitement and adventure to overflow his wildest dreams. How he experiences disaster and uses his wits and knowledge to overcome every problem makes for a great read. - Summary by Phil Chenevert