1. What made you want to be a chemist?

I started out as a neuroscience major at Laurentian University in Ontario, Canada. In the summer after my second year I started doing experiments in the chemistry laboratory on reactions that I thought were interesting. The most rewarding aspect of chemistry is that you can think of a new idea in the morning and often know if it works by the end of the day. In neuroscience, experiments usually took weeks or months before knowing the outcome. I also didn’t like killing rats.

2. If you weren’t a chemist and could do any other job, what would it be – and why?

Before switching to chemistry I was on my way to becoming a neurosurgeon. I still think neuroscience is interesting because it directly pertains to the phenomenon of consciousness.

3. How can chemists best contribute to the world at large?

The short answer is by sharing more data more quickly. I understand that in many situations this is not possible because of IP or collaboration concerns. However, there are other situations where data that could be shared is not because of inertia. My approach to this is to make the laboratory notebook of my group public at all times. When I talk about sharing data I’m also including the details of how an experiment was carried out and observed. We can learn a lot by observing how people fail as well as succeed.

4. Which historical figure would you most like to have dinner with – and why?

It would be fascinating to hear Wilder Penfield recount his pioneering work on neural stimulation and mapping.

5. When was the last time you did an experiment in the lab – and what was it?

September 3, 2008. While I was in Southampton I spent the day with Cameron Neylon and we measured the solubility of a few compounds in organic solvents. The experiment is available here. We used this as an example of how people can perform simple experiments and report measurements publicly that are difficult to find, even in expensive databases. We aim to collect a completely public dataset of solubilities of common compounds in organic solvents and create a predictive model via a collaboration with Rajarshi Guha at Indiana University. More information can be found here (Sigma–Aldrich is currently sponsor – new sponsors and participants welcome)

6. If exiled on a desert island, what one book and one CD would you take with you?

I would bring an autobiography of somebody interesting – if I had to pick a specific one, William Shatner’s Up Til Now probably has a few giggles left in a second reading. Pink Floyd’s The Final Cut album never gets old.

Jean-Claude Bradley is in the Department of Chemistry at Drexel University, and works on the synthesis of new anti-malarial compounds using Open Notebook Science.

1. What made you want to be a chemist?

I actually spent a lot of time trying to get away from chemistry as an undergraduate. My undergraduate major is actually biochemistry and the only reason I carried chemistry through to third year was I hated microbiology even more. I then did a PhD in a chemistry department, a postdoc, in a chemistry department, and ended up with a Lectureship at Southampton Chemistry, before moving to the STFC ISIS Neutron Scattering Facility, which has a strong history in physical chemistry. So it took me a while to appreciate the importance of chemistry to what I was trying to do and the things I was interested in.

2. If you weren’t a chemist and could do any other job, what would it be – and why?

I nearly did music rather than science at university and I still definitely miss the fact that I don’t have the time to dedicate to being much better than I am at the music I am involved with. Really I’d just like to be able to devote more time to learning more about the things that I find interesting or fun but are not right at the core of what I need to be doing right now. Given a completely free choice, and unlimited funds, I’d probably go back to being a student!

3. How can chemists best contribute to the world at large?

By doing what they’re best at – chemistry, and helping to frame the big issues facing science and the world in chemical terms. Chemistry remains central to almost everything we do, and an awful lot of what we need to do in terms of climate, the environment, energy, and health. But at the same time there is a lot of complacency in the community and a lack of interest in engaging with the way the development of science and technology are changing. Chemistry has a great future, but I worry about how much of that future is going to be in chemistry departments. Chemists need to stake a claim to being at the heart of solving important problems or there is the risk of just turning into a service department.

4. Which historical figure would you most like to have dinner with – and why?

Far too hard! There are quite enough people I’d like to meet who are still alive. I think it would be fascinating to talk to Haldane about science and society or any of the 19th century scientists who were the last generation to have a good grasp of what was happening in the full range of science fields.

5. When was the last time you did an experiment in the lab – and what was it?

You can tell exactly when I was last in the lab and what I was doing by looking at my lab book online. The most recent thing at the time of writing was a deceptively simple-looking experiment where I was seeing whether a simple approach to measuring the solubility of compounds in organic solvents would work well or not. This was done with Jean-Claude Bradley from Drexel University as part of the setup for an Open Notebook Science challenge where we are trying to crowdsource the collection of solubility data. The idea is that students anywhere in the world can contribute by developing or improving methods for determining solubility and placing the data and methods online as they are developed so that the data are freely accessible. I still manage to get into the lab reasonably regularly. Whether it does any good or not you’d have to ask my research group…

6. If exiled on a desert island, what one book and one CD would you take with you?

If I was exiled on a desert island I would go mad. One book and one CD would be unlikely to help all that much so I guess I would go for the longest thing I could find. The full OED perhaps, you can still get that compact edition I think with nine pages condensed onto one. CD would probably be one I’ve had for ages, with the Berlin Philharmonic playing Pictures at an Exhibition and the Rite of Spring. That or Sky’s second album – but I don’t think that was ever released on CD…

Cameron Neylon has joint appointments at the Science and Technology Facilities Council Rutherford Appleton Laboratory and the School of Chemistry at Southampton University, and works on too many different things ranging from analysis of high throughput DNA sequencing approaches, through methodology development for biophysics and structural biology, to the design and development of web based systems for recording what happens in experimental laboratories.

1. What made you want to be a chemist?

I was always interested in maths, physics, chemistry and biology at school – however I find that there is more room for creativity in chemistry. Also, an enthusiastic chemistry teacher the year I had to make a choice definitely had an influence on me.

2. If you weren’t a chemist and could do any other job, what would it be – and why?

A teacher! I grew up in a family of teachers and always thought I would become one (while constantly changing my mind about the subject I was going to teach). I think education is of particular importance and I wouldn’t mind being a part of it. If I really could be anything I would also love to be a painter – but it was clear from an early age that my drawing abilities weren’t up to it.

3. How can chemists best contribute to the world at large?

In various ways, chemists are already looking for answers to current problems in an incredibly broad range of areas – from environmental to health issues. There is also a communication problem between scientists and the general public, with most people not being really sure of what researchers actually do… Making chemistry better understood to the public, through education, would be extremely valuable.

4. Which historical figure would you most like to have dinner with – and why?

He’s already been chosen a couple of times but if he’s allowed one more dinner I’d like to meet Nelson Mandela, whose fight for freedom and equality undeniably changed the world.

5. When was the last time you did an experiment in the lab – and what was it?

When I was finishing my PhD, two years ago. I was investigating a copper-based metal-organic framework formed with two types of ligands, wistfully looking for outstanding gas storage properties. I particularly liked that framework for its structure, but also (or did I mean mostly?) the fact that it grew in the form of beautiful green crystals.

6. If exiled on a desert island, what one book, and one CD would you take with you?

This is an incredibly hard choice. Sadly, I would have to give JRR Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings a miss, purely because I’ve read it (and now also seen the films) so many times. I’d love to take with me La Saga Malaussène, by Daniel Pennac, a series of books relating with much style and wit the ever-entertaining adventures of the Malaussène family living in Belleville, Paris. Oh is ‘a series of books’ cheating? Then I’d bring Shantaram, by Gregory David Roberts – I’ve just started reading it and it seems really compelling. As for the CD I would go with Bob Marley’s Legend.

Anne Pichon is an Associate Editor for Nature Chemistry and Nature Asia-Pacific.