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"...rather than considering life as an extraordinary phenomenon, miraculous and extraneous to all other behaviors of matter, chemistry provides us with the tool

"...rather than considering life as an extraordinary phenomenon, miraculous and extraneous to all other behaviors of matter, chemistry provides us with the tools to think of life as one of the many different types of dynamic organization that matter can assume." Nice work. Chemistry really is the most neglected of the popular-science topics. Most bookstores will have a large collection of pop-sci biology texts, and a large collection of pop-sci physics texts, and in between... much less, if anything. Complex materials, condensed matter, quantum properties of molecules, all are fundamentally important concepts in both nature and industry, and deserve a lot more attention.

usrn 4y ago
I feel like eg Nile Red has made chemistry pretty popular recently.
melony 4y ago
Most of the immediately useful (to humans) chemistry are all organic based and electron-pushing doesn't exactly make for exciting reading. Sure everybody wants to re-enact Breaking Bad but learning the hundred or so heuristics of carbon compounds really takes a toll. Physical chemistry on the other hand is much more straightforward with tons of industrial applications but it doesn't offer much value by itself unless combined with some other process. Most industrial chemists will work on a small part of e.g. semiconductor manufacturing, the critical value creation is still done by somebody else.
- wuschel 4y ago
  Hi melony, this is an interesting comment that carries some truth. May I ask where you are coming from to make to make these statements? You are definitely right that one needs a larger, expensive capex based platform to make a dent with chemistry. What combination of physical chemistry and *Umph/some other process would you look into?
  - melony 4y ago
    No experience with high-level chemistry. Had training in both life science and software engineering. Standard premed science major chemistry experience. Business experience in chemical engineering fields What sort of science vertical do you specialise in? Any links to your startup? > What combination of physical chemistry and Umph/some other process would you look into? I can't speak for chemistry but pre-COVID, "cloud laboratories" and "bioreactors-as-as-service" were really hot in the biotech field. I suppose something similar can be done for chemistry. Lego mindstorms style kits for flow chemistry could also be interesting. As for teaching chemistry, I am not sure how the process can be improved. I suppose focusing more on conceptual understanding rather than intuition would be helpful. The amount of knowledge that is needed as a foundation before you can do anything useful in organic chemistry is magnitudes greater than physical. If it can be googled in under a minute, don't expect students to memorize it. Physical is much more straightforward, learn the periodic table and be good at applied math and you are set. You can train chemical engineers as easily as web developers in a bootcamp (given the right STEM background). Good organic chemists are much trickier.

usrn 4y ago

I feel like eg Nile Red has made chemistry pretty popular recently.

melony 4y ago

Most of the immediately useful (to humans) chemistry are all organic based and electron-pushing doesn't exactly make for exciting reading. Sure everybody wants to re-enact Breaking Bad but learning the hundred or so heuristics of carbon compounds really takes a toll. Physical chemistry on the other hand is much more straightforward with tons of industrial applications but it doesn't offer much value by itself unless combined with some other process. Most industrial chemists will work on a small part of e.g. semiconductor manufacturing, the critical value creation is still done by somebody else.

wuschel 4y ago
Hi melony, this is an interesting comment that carries some truth. May I ask where you are coming from to make to make these statements? You are definitely right that one needs a larger, expensive capex based platform to make a dent with chemistry. What combination of physical chemistry and *Umph/some other process would you look into?
- melony 4y ago
  No experience with high-level chemistry. Had training in both life science and software engineering. Standard premed science major chemistry experience. Business experience in chemical engineering fields What sort of science vertical do you specialise in? Any links to your startup? > What combination of physical chemistry and Umph/some other process would you look into? I can't speak for chemistry but pre-COVID, "cloud laboratories" and "bioreactors-as-as-service" were really hot in the biotech field. I suppose something similar can be done for chemistry. Lego mindstorms style kits for flow chemistry could also be interesting. As for teaching chemistry, I am not sure how the process can be improved. I suppose focusing more on conceptual understanding rather than intuition would be helpful. The amount of knowledge that is needed as a foundation before you can do anything useful in organic chemistry is magnitudes greater than physical. If it can be googled in under a minute, don't expect students to memorize it. Physical is much more straightforward, learn the periodic table and be good at applied math and you are set. You can train chemical engineers as easily as web developers in a bootcamp (given the right STEM background). Good organic chemists are much trickier.