Social sciences articles within Nature Chemistry

Featured

  • Thesis |

    Teaching the history of science along with the science itself can give students greater context about the topic they are learning and a wider perspective on how it has developed. Michelle Francl, who has wrestled with how much time to spend on teaching history in the chemistry classroom for years, considers how unconventional histories can shift the curriculum.

    • Michelle Francl

  • Comment |

    Critical race theory — an academic framework that serves to understand systemic racism in the USA and beyond — can help inform endeavours to advance justice and equity in the chemistry community.

    • Terrell R. Morton

  • Q&A |

    Zafra Lerman talks to Nature Chemistry about embedding art in science education, and science in the pursuit of peace on Earth.

    • Anne Pichon

  • Q&A |

    Matthew Horwitz, creator of the Synthesis Workshop video podcast, talks to Nature Chemistry about using podcasting as a driver of professional-level education in the chemistry community.

    • Katherine Geogheghan

  • Article |

    Geminal disubstitution of cyclic monomers is known to improve the chemical recyclability of their polymers, but usually at the expense of performance properties. Now, geminal disubstitution of a six-membered lactone has been shown to synergistically enable chemical recyclability back to the monomer and enhance the materials performance of the resulting polyesters, with properties that rival or exceed those of polyethylene.

    • Xin-Lei Li
    • , Ryan W. Clarke
    •  & Eugene Y.-X. Chen

  • Comment |

    Governments worldwide are committing more funding for scientific research in the face of the ongoing pandemic and climate crises. However, the funding process must be restructured to remove the barriers arising from conscious and unconscious biases experienced by minoritized groups, including women, and particularly women of colour.

    • J. M. Jebsen
    • , K. Nicoll Baines
    •  & I. Jayasinghe

  • Q&A |

    Lara Mosunmola Lalemi, PhD student at the University of Bristol and founder of the Creative Tuition Collective, shares with Nature Chemistry some of her projects — from climate chemistry to social justice — to improve our environment in all senses of the term.

    • Anne Pichon

  • Thesis |

    A diverse group of people with a range of skills is required to be successful in academia, just as it is in team sports, argues Bruce C. Gibb.

    • Bruce C. Gibb

  • Comment |

    Ingrained prejudices and a lack of action addressing discrimination are some of the main reasons why academic chemistry is overwhelmingly white. Data and discussions on racial inequalities are often greeted with scepticism and cynicism within the community, yet they are necessary to fight racism — and anti-Black racism in particular.

    • Binuraj R. K. Menon

  • Comment |

    Valuing diversity leads to scientific excellence, the progress of science and, most importantly, it is simply the right thing to do. We must value diversity not only in words, but also in actions.

    • César A. Urbina-Blanco
    • , Safia Z. Jilani
    •  & Ying-Wei Yang

  • Editorial |

    Two Q&As in this issue consider aspects of chemical safety in industry and academia. And when it comes to the latter, a Review Article concludes that much more research is required to better understand — and improve — safety in academic laboratories.

  • Q&A |

    Dave Laffan, a Director in Chemical Development at AstraZeneca, talks to Nature Chemistry about safety in industry labs and his role on the Safety, Health and Environment committee.

    • Katherine Geogheghan

  • Q&A |

    Marc Reid, a researcher at the University of Strathclyde and co-founder of Pre-Site Safety, talks to Nature Chemistry about safety, both as an academic scientist and as a director of a safety-focused company.

    • Katherine Geogheghan

  • Review Article |

    Despite the regular occurrence of high-profile accidents leading to serious injuries or deaths among lab personnel, the state of academic lab safety research has languished. Existing studies in this area are summarized and critiqued in this Review and suggestions are made for future research directions.

    • A. Dana Ménard
    •  & John F. Trant

  • Comment |

    Very few consumers are aware that chemistry and synthetic chemicals are indispensable in making everyday goods because the products that people buy — such as cell phones, cars and processed foods — are typically far removed from the raw chemicals used in their production.

    • Michael Siegrist
    •  & Angela Bearth

  • Thesis |

    Michelle Francl muses on fantastic beasts of chemistry and why we try to find them.

    • Michelle Francl

  • Thesis |

    Michelle Francl reminds us that you don't need to look like Einstein to be a scientist.

    • Michelle Francl

  • Editorial |

    Twitter is more than just the place to go to find out what celebrities have had for breakfast — if you look hard enough, it can be a useful source of chemistry news, highlights and debate.

  • Editorial |

    Although politics has been defined as the 'science of government', there is little science in government. Recent events in UK politics have highlighted the lack of scientifically literate elected representatives — a situation that must change for the good of society.

  • Editorial |

    The financial crisis that continued to grip the world in 2009 has brought the question of who should pay for scientific research — and what it should set out to achieve — into sharper focus than ever.

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