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Ida Freund (5 April 1863 – 15 May 1914) was the first woman to be a university chemistry lecturer in the United Kingdom. She is known for her influence on science teaching, particularly the teaching of women and girls. She wrote two key chemistry textbooks and invented the idea of baking periodic table cupcakes, as well as inventing a gas measuring tube, which was named after her.
Her focus on teaching left her little time for research, she did not pursue a master's degree or a doctorate. She was responsible for the laboratory training of her students, many of whom came up to College with little or no knowledge of chemistry. Amongst her students, she was thought to be an inspirational teacher and a singular character. She had lost a leg in a cycling accident when she was a girl and used variously walking sticks, a prosthetic leg and a three-wheeled tricycle wheelchair worked with her arms. Her disability and unconventional style of dress made her a distinctive figure, which was much remarked upon at the time by colleagues and contemporaries.
Freund was an active feminist and supporter of women's suffrage. She was amongst the women who fought for admission to the Chemical Society in the early 1900s. Women were eventually admitted to the Society in 1920, six years after her death. She remained at Newnham until her retirement due to ill-health in 1913. The chemistry lab at Newnham was closed following her retirement because by that time female students were admitted to study in departmental chemistry labs in the university. She died on 15 May 1914 following surgery at her home in Cambridge while working on her second book.
In the preface for the book, editors A. Hutchinson and Mary Beatrice Thomas suggest that in writing it: "Miss Freund was attempting to bring to the notice of other teachers her views as to the manner in which students may be helped to realise that chemistry is a science-based on experiment, and that logical interpretation of experiments leads directly to the generalisation known as the laws of chemistry."
Both of Freund's books are considered to be key texts in the teaching of chemistry and are much cited.
Hutchinson and Thomas, the editors of her posthumously published textbook The Fundamental Principles of Chemistry, described her teaching ethos thus "Miss Freund had a dread of thoughtless experimenting and slipshod thinking. She felt strongly that much that passes for training in science has little relation to scientific method and is of small educational value." They quote her as saying, " I aimed at giving by means of class teaching not only a common ground of knowledge but also a common standard concerning the nature of scientific proof and the meaning of real accuracy".
She opposed the introduction of domestic science teaching in girls' schools as a substitute for fundamental scientific education but made use of her own baking and culinary skills to create engaging teaching resources.
One of her students described her approach:
Based on her original idea, periodic table cupcakes have become a popular and fun way to celebrate chemistry at school bake sales and events aiming to promote public engagement with science. The Royal Society of Chemistry celebrated the launch of the Visual Elements Periodic Table with a set of periodic table cupcakes and students at Nottingham University did similarly for the birthday of Martyn Poliakoff. A video showing the collection of cakes is included in Professor Poliakoff's series of online videos 'Periodic Videos' Periodic Videos aim to bring chemistry to a new generation of students.
Recipe instructions for modern versions of Freund's periodic table of cupcakes are available from a variety of sources online.
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