Thesis

Could short, non-traditional sabbaticals help scientists better organize their research groups and make improvements to their laboratory's IT infrastructure? Bruce Gibb ponders this question.

Michelle Francl thinks that new science words should have a touch of swagger and a whiff of mystery.

Bruce Gibb ponders a future without chemistry departments — and explains why this is a good thing.

Bloggers shouldn't be relegated to the sidelines of the scientific literature, argues Michelle Francl.

Using chemical intuition often allows one to predict what might transpire on throwing a batch of chemicals into a beaker, but sometimes the unexpected can occur. Bruce C. Gibb discusses how you define an 'emergent phenomenon', recognizing that it's not a simple exercise and can actually be different for each of us.

Michelle Francl wonders just what we're buying — and buying into — when we shop for our laboratories.

Bruce Gibb finds that time away from the laboratory can help the mind to wander and explore new research ideas — and that inspiration for possible projects can come from somewhat unlikely sources.

It might come as a disappointment to some chemists, but just as there are uncertainties in physics and mathematics, there are some chemistry questions we may never know the answer to either, suggests Fredric M. Menger.

Michelle Francl reminds us that even a rigorous scientific discipline such as chemistry has its own myths and legends — and explains why this isn't such a bad thing.

As we learn more about the complexities of water, Bruce Gibb argues that organic chemists shouldn't be afraid to take the plunge into aqueous environments.

We should do less staged science and more science on stage, suggests Michelle Francl.

In the sink-or-swim world of academia, Bruce C. Gibb considers what support structures should be put in place for those who have only just entered the water.

Michelle Francl wonders why people almost inevitably draw scientists as men with weird hair and glasses, and why there is no such thing as a 'draw a lawyer' test.

Bruce C. Gibb wonders why curry is not part of the chemistry curriculum.

Can philosophy make worthwhile contributions to science? Eric Scerri thinks it can, and looks at what it has brought to the table for chemistry.

How long a road is it from physical chemistry to philosophy? Michelle Francl tries to find her way using charts of the intellectual world, old and new.

Obtaining financial support for scientific research is generally more difficult for work that is fundamental in nature rather than applied. Bruce C. Gibb contemplates how topics such as complexity might get their share — and why it is vital that they do.

Chemists have stretched the meaning of topology to cover situations never imagined by their mathematical colleagues. Michelle Francl wonders if we have reached breaking point?

Although many chemists are no strangers to complicated molecular structures, they are less familiar with complex systems and emergent phenomena. Bruce C. Gibb suggests that teamwork is the best way forward for tackling these subjects, and considers how university departments are changing to promote collaboration.

Diamonds may be forever, but are some other forms of carbon merely passing fads? Stuart Cantrill considers why carbon often seems to be a chemist's best friend.