An Element of Controversy: The Life of Chlorine in Science, Medicine, Technology and War

This collection is the product of a highly innovative pedagogical experiment. Five successive cohorts of undergraduate students, each building on the work inherited from the previous year, produced an academic monograph. The outcome is an engaging history of the chemical element chlorine from its first isolation in the 1770s to the late 20th century. With a methodological focus on controversies, this rich collection includes studies on the history and philosophy of chemistry, the history and ethics of chemical warfare, the medical and technological developments of disinfection and bleaching, and the environmental impacts of organo-chlorine compounds from the Vietnam War to Silent Spring.