The History of Chemistry. The Case of the Supposed Isomerism of the Hydrocarbon Ethane in the Construction of Knowledge: Implications for chemical education

We contend that Chemical education proposals for changing the conception of chemistry literacy should include making explicit the relationship between chemistry as science and chemistry as technology. The potential for increasing students' confusion about what these interconnected activities involve is significant. In this paper we illustrate the importance of distinguishing between scientific and technological activities by explaining the events and processes that are occurring, firstly between material objects (instruments, machines) and practical activities and ideas; and secondly between ideas (theory) which may be called explanations and those that we call knowhow. We illustrate this by exploring the controversy in the development of chemical theory in history - the supposed isomerism of ethane. The additional purpose of this article is to highlight the importance of the history of chemistry in the education of chemists.