With the birth of the electronic hand calculator and the death of the slide rule,
the teaching of general chemistry entered a new era. Unfortunately, the calculator did not bring automatic understanding of chemistry; analyzing and solving problems is just as difficult as ever. The need for detailed explanations, drill,
and review problems is still with us.
The calculator came on the scene just as society was beginning to make major
decisions based on statistical evidence. Which chemicals are "safe" and "noncarcinogenic"? At what level is a given pollutant "harmful"? More and more
the chemist must decide what constitutes risk, and that decision is based on
statistics. New analytical techniques can detect incredibly small amounts of
materials, and the results of these analyses must be judged statistically. Students need to start as early as they can to think critically and with statistical
understanding about their own work and that of others. The hand calculator
makes it relatively easy to determine statistical significance, to plot data properly by the method of least squares, and to evaluate the reliability of quantities
related to the slope and y intercept of such a plot. This book takes into account
the impact of the calculator. It shows beginners how to use calculators effectively and, as they progress, to determine whether or not results are statistically
significant