THOMAS STEWART CHEMISTRY IN OUR DAILY LIVES
Gluten, saturated fat, unsaturated fat — these words appear on almost every nutri Ɵ on label. We see them every day, but how many of us truly understand what they mean? These terms are familiar, o Ō en without being fully understood. Thomas Stewart reveals the hidden complexity behind objects and processes that appear in our everyday lives. Stewart’s class, Chemistry in Our Daily Lives , unlocks an apprecia- Ɵ on for the thought and science behind many modern products we use every day. He explains chemistry in a diges Ɵ ble way, making it accessible to those with li Ʃ le scien Ɵ fi c background. As Stewart puts it, these are “terms they have heard before, but never knew what they meant.”
ICL instructor Thomas Stewart
Stewart grew up in Torrance, California, where he lived for 76 years. He has been married for 61 years and has three children, four grandchildren, and 10 great - grandchildren. His chemistry educa Ɵ on began at a com- munity college and later con Ɵ nued at the University of California, Los Angeles, where he earned both a bach- elor’s and a master’s degree in physical chemistry. During his early college years, he started working for an aerospace company called North American Avia Ɵ on on the Apollo Space Program (yes, that space program), bonding insula Ɵ on to spacecra Ō . A Ō er some Ɵ me, he moved to The Aerospace Corpora Ɵ on, a nonpro fi t
organiza Ɵ on, where he worked in the chemistry lab for 40 years. During this Ɵ me, he gained his fi rst teaching experi- ence, instruc Ɵ ng chemistry at a community college in the evenings. A Ō er 35 years, he began teaching at California State Univ. Dominguez Hills, where he taught for a decade. In 2018, Stewart le Ō California and “never looked back.” He has lived in St. George for seven years and thoroughly enjoys the area’s arts, culture, and nearby na Ɵ onal parks. Stewart was introduced to ICL by his friend Andy Christen- sen, who taught an Einstein class and encouraged him to share his exper Ɵ se with the ICL community. Stewart enjoys teaching at ICL because he gets to intro- duce new ideas to people later in life. By the end of the course , the chemistry behind everyday life becomes far less in Ɵ mida Ɵ ng — and much more fascina Ɵ ng.
Chemistry in Our Daily Lives is o ff ered in - person on Mondays at 3:00 p.m.
Ar Ɵ cle wri Ʃ en by ICL Social Media Intern Ava Knudsen .
6 LIFELONG LEARNING
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