As we enter a new century, Lawrence’s vision for the natural sciences calls for continued expansion of inquiry-based approaches to learning throughout all levels of the curriculum. Committed to the principle that students learn science by doing science, we will expand opportunities for students to engage in research activities and we will continue to promote a culture in which teaching and research are inextricably intertwined. We will also continue to expand cross- and inter-disciplinary connections among science disciplines to mirror the way in which scientists are investigating problems. Finally, we will improve scientific proficiency and literacy among all students, so that they will understand — through hands-on exposure to the scientific method — the role of science in their lives and in our society.
Science Hall was designed to advance this vision. The facility houses all of chemistry and portions of biology and physics. To a great extent, the teaching and research spaces in this facility focus on the study of molecular structure and function. Increasingly, differences among disciplines are dissolving, and many of the most significant discoveries and promising research directions involve scientists from all three of the disciplines housed in the building, examining phenomena on the same scale of physical size. Research in biology, for example, is moving from the examination of the whole organism to the microscopic level of the cell and its organelles, such as the detailed exploration of nucleic acids as the repositories of biological information at the molecular level. Chemists continue to explore the structure and behavior of small molecules in basic and applied research, but they are also extending their studies to larger molecules such as polymers and highly complex "supramolecular" systems of living organisms. And physicists are extending theoretical and experimental studies to molecular systems, polymers, and other solids.
Locating faculty members with these interests in a single building with shared facilities emphasizes, facilitates, and enhances the common features of their teaching and research. Consultation and collaboration increase — among faculty, among students, and between faculty and students — as a result of physical proximity. This arrangement demonstrates to students the connectedness of the sciences, increases interaction among the faculty and students of these departments, and encourages students to apply newly acquired knowledge and techniques across traditional disciplinary boundaries.
