{"id":2476,"date":"2008-10-03T04:44:28","date_gmt":"2008-10-03T04:44:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.nature.com\/thescepticalchymist\/2008\/10\/reactions-anne-pichon.html"},"modified":"2011-12-20T11:09:10","modified_gmt":"2011-12-20T11:09:10","slug":"reactions_anne_pichon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.nature.com\/thescepticalchymist\/2008\/10\/reactions_anne_pichon.html","title":{"rendered":"Reactions – Anne Pichon"},"content":{"rendered":"

1. What made you want to be a chemist?<\/em><\/p>\n

I was always interested in maths, physics, chemistry and biology at school \u2013 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.<\/p>\n

2. If you weren’t a chemist and could do any other job, what would it be – and why?<\/em><\/p>\n

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\u2019t mind being a part of it. If I really could be anything I would also love to be a painter \u2013 but it was clear from an early age that my drawing abilities weren\u2019t up to it.<\/p>\n

3. How can chemists best contribute to the world at large?<\/em><\/p>\n

In various ways, chemists are already looking for answers to current problems in an incredibly broad range of areas \u2013 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\u2026 Making chemistry better understood to the public, through education, would be extremely valuable.<\/p>\n

4. Which historical figure would you most like to have dinner with \u2013 and why?<\/em><\/p>\n

He\u2019s already been chosen a couple of times but if he\u2019s allowed one more dinner I\u2019d like to meet Nelson Mandela, whose fight for freedom and equality undeniably changed the world.<\/p>\n

5. When was the last time you did an experiment in the lab – and what was it?<\/em><\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

6. If exiled on a desert island, what one book, and one CD would you take with you?<\/em><\/p>\n

This is an incredibly hard choice. Sadly, I would have to give JRR<\/span> Tolkien\u2019s Lord of the Rings a miss, purely because I\u2019ve read it (and now also seen the films) so many times. I\u2019d love to take with me La Saga Malauss\u00e8ne, by Daniel Pennac, a series of books relating with much style and wit the ever-entertaining adventures of the Malauss\u00e8ne family living in Belleville, Paris. Oh is \u2018a series of books\u2019 cheating? Then I\u2019d bring Shantaram, by Gregory David Roberts \u2013 I\u2019ve just started reading it and it seems really compelling. As for the CD I would go with Bob Marley\u2019s Legend.<\/p>\n

Anne Pichon is an Associate Editor for Nature Chemistry<\/a><\/em> and Nature Asia-Pacific<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

1. What made you want to be a chemist?  Read more<\/a> Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":122,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2476","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reactions"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.nature.com\/thescepticalchymist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2476","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.nature.com\/thescepticalchymist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.nature.com\/thescepticalchymist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.nature.com\/thescepticalchymist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/122"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.nature.com\/thescepticalchymist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2476"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.nature.com\/thescepticalchymist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2476\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.nature.com\/thescepticalchymist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2476"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.nature.com\/thescepticalchymist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2476"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.nature.com\/thescepticalchymist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2476"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}