Chemistry is a key STEM subject and is central to the various subject categories within science that is also comprised of physics, biology, and geology just to name a few. Chemistry and mathematics collectively underpin many technical fields of engineering including biomedical engineering which is now regarded by some to be one of the most valuable college majors in the United States.
Chemistry and Measurements
Scientific measurements are integral to professional research and applied studies in chemistry and most other STEM subjects. However, despite such importance, the concept of measurement rarely receives the attention that it deserves from a real-world educational perspective. For example, while most chemistry textbooks do indeed include a discussion of the concept of measurement, the treatment is generally very simplistic and limited to only a few pages. The paucity of cited references of measurements in the Next Generation Science Standards confirms a similar disappointing level of treatment as that found in chemistry textbooks. The perceived lack of treatment of measurement science at the high school and college levels is inexplicable and inconsistent with the realization of this documented fact: the importance and relevance of the varying complexities and levels of sophistication of scientific measurements has developed to such an extent over the course of time that an entire field of study called metrology is devoted specifically to the theoretical and applied aspects of modern scientific measurements.
Disciplines of Chemistry
The extremely broad scope of the science of chemistry requires that it be focused into several traditional core disciplines such as organic, inorganic, physical and biochemistry. Analytical chemistry, another one of the core disciplines, has a scope in which measurements play an exceptionally important role. Qualitative analysis measurements provide information that identify one or more components in a material sample. Quantitative analysis measurements provide information that quantifies the amount or concentration on the component in a material sample. The analytical science of chemical measurements provides a descriptive modern day definition of analytical metrology which is a logical comprehensive extension of applied chemistry and mathematics involving qualitative and quantitative chemical analysis.