10.+Gathering+Data+Through+All+Senses

Through all the CORROSIVE, RADIOACTIVE, POISONOUS, CAUTION, WARNING, DANGEROUS, EXPLOSIVE, and BIOHAZARD labels, one would scientists to use as little senses as possible, when gathering data. This is not the case. Of course, rationality plays a major part in deciding whether or not to sniff or taste the lab at hand, but sometimes, such senses are needed to get the full picture of a lab. I believe that throughout this quarter, I have developed this habit of mind, through my encountering of a wide variety of scents in the chemistry lab.

One day, I walked into the classroom, and was immediately struck of the smell of a stereotypical chinese home, with plastic coverings over all the furniture. I knew this smell. Over the course of the day, I learned that the smell that I was so accustomed, but not familiar with, was called Napthathalene. I have both heard of the word, and encountered the odor, but until that day, I had not made the connection. This is just another example of how not only sight and touch are useful senses, in a efficient chemistry lab room. Its hard to give proof of my smelling a chemical, but here is the formula of Naphthalene instead (figure 10).

Figure 10