Reactions – Zachary Aron
Zachary Aron is in the Department of Chemistry at Indiana University, Bloomington, and works on the development of molecular assembly lines as versatile tools for chemical synthesis. Read more
Zachary Aron is in the Department of Chemistry at Indiana University, Bloomington, and works on the development of molecular assembly lines as versatile tools for chemical synthesis. Read more
Yesterday I suggested a few book titles and short stories for those interested in chemistry-themed science fiction. In this final entry, I’ll dig up some film and TV suggestions. Read more
In my previous blog, I wrote about the lack of strong chemistry themes in science fiction. Here I’ll suggest a few resources and book titles for those who want some chemical spice in their sci-fi – maybe this will be useful for summer holiday reading. Read more
Posted on behalf of Materials Girl Previously, summer class and the flurry of conference posts have been an excuse for my lack of posting. But, like Neil, I need to get back to it. So much has happened in my academic world since my last post! Does a personal Twitter feed with periodic chemistry references count as updates? In May, we were drowning in midterms and the doom of upcoming finals. Merely weeks later, I discovered that my last chemistry exam was over and I was running off to multiple commencements, amidst moving out of a surprisingly stuffed little dorm … Read more
Wouldn’t it be refreshing to find some science-fiction in which the key plot developments revolve around a chemical concept? It doesn’t seem like much to ask, and yet it’s really difficult to find sci-fi that genuinely embraces chemical themes. There does seem to be an appetite for such material, at least among chemists — an ACS symposium in 1992 on chemistry in science fiction was apparently standing room only. Read more
Kalai Saravanamuttu is in the Department of Chemistry at McMaster University, and works on the fundamental properties and applications of nonlinear light propagation in photochemical media. Read more
Aaron Wheeler is in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Toronto and works to develop miniaturized systems to solve problems in chemistry, biology, and medicine. Read more
Posted on behalf of Aaron Finke Chemistry lab courses should focus more on method and problem-solving rather than specific techniques, with room for students to “fail” so they can learn from their mistakes. The best approach is to use open-ended experiments that require students to formulate conclusions other than “it worked” or “it didn’t work.” However, these experiments usually require a significant time commitment on the instructors’ part, and so these kinds of experiments are usually only found in labs for chemistry majors with small student enrollments. My undergrad’s senior capstone project for chemistry majors is a particularly good example … Read more
Element 112 has a name! Taken from Nicolaus Copernicus, the man who said that the universe didn’t revolve around the Earth, and that we were actually spinning round our star, the Sun. Read more
John D. (Nick) Fisk is in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering at Colorado State University and works on developing new chemical tools for understanding and manipulating biological systems. Read more
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Reactions: Xin Su
Reactions: Xin Su