A Crash Course in Organic Chemistry: Jakob Magolan (Transcript)

Jakob Magolan at TED Talks

Here is the full transcript of organic chemistry professor Jakob Magolan’s interesting talk: A Crash Course in Organic Chemistry @ TEDxUIdaho May 2017 conference.

Listen to the MP3 Audio: A crash course in organic chemistry – Jakob Magolan

Jakob Magolan – Associate Professor of Organic Chemistry, University of Idaho

I’d like you to ask yourself, what do you feel when you hear the words “organic chemistry?” What comes to mind?

There is a course offered at nearly every university, and it’s called Organic Chemistry, and it is a grueling, heavy introduction to the subject, a flood of content that overwhelms students, and you have to ace it if you want to become a doctor or a dentist or a veterinarian.

And that is why so many students perceive this science like this – as an obstacle in their path, and they fear it and they hate it and they call it a weed-out course. What a cruel thing for a subject to do to young people, weed them out.

And this perception spread beyond college campuses long ago. There is a universal anxiety about these two words.

I happen to love this science, and I think this position in which we have placed it is inexcusable. It’s not good for science, and it’s not good for society, and I don’t think it has to be this way. And I don’t mean that this class should be easier. It shouldn’t.