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> Twenty years ago the debate surrounding open science focused on access to journals. By 2020 around 25% of all chemistry papers published were open access, and

> Twenty years ago the debate surrounding open science focused on access to journals. By 2020 around 25% of all chemistry papers published were open access, and now most of the major publishers of chemistry journals offer some version of open access. I'm a big fan of open source and open access, but I'm not sure that access to journals is really a big problem for any working chemist. So if the question is whether it will "change chemistry", I would say it's unlikely. Why? This isn't an easy field and it's full of landmines, sometimes literally so. It's really only possible to work in the field if you're in a well-funded lab in a well-funded university. Not only that, but many of these chemicals are dangerous. You're just not supposed to be dorking around with them in your basement or garage. It's nice to imagine that somewhere out there is some poor, underfunded genius who doesn't have $100 or $200 to pay for a copy of some article, but I think from a practical perspective that's just not something holding back the field. And really, most of his or her neighbors would be happy if he/she wasn't working with dangerous chemicals in a garage.

A4ET8a8uTh0 2y ago
Yep, as much as I love the idea, I would not recommend that anyone approaches even some of the basic chemistry without someone being able to stop you in time.
dexwiz 2y ago
I’m pretty sure the majority of chemistry teachers I’ve had with real research or professional experience over the age of 50 were blind or deaf on at least one side. The remainder have a story about how they almost died.
fuzzfactor 2y ago
>It's really only possible to work in the field if you're in a well-funded lab in a well-funded university. It takes a lot more ambition than most people have, to do it otherwise, and it's now more difficult than ever, but it's been done. >many of these chemicals are dangerous. The first laboratory I built on my own was in a room rated by the fire marshal for storage of hazardous materials. So we could work with many kilos of chemicals and samples without running afoul of the regulations. I personally made sure there was way better ventilation than they have in the chemical plants before instrumenting the lab. There were neighbors but it was an industrial suburb. For a while there they had more welding tanks, drums of paint, heavy diesel trucks, etc than we did toxins but eventually we outdid them with our growing storage sheds out in the yard. You just don't try this at home. You don't realize how nice it is to have a refuge from toxicity when that's not what you have at work.

A4ET8a8uTh0 2y ago

Yep, as much as I love the idea, I would not recommend that anyone approaches even some of the basic chemistry without someone being able to stop you in time.

dexwiz 2y ago

I’m pretty sure the majority of chemistry teachers I’ve had with real research or professional experience over the age of 50 were blind or deaf on at least one side. The remainder have a story about how they almost died.

fuzzfactor 2y ago

>It's really only possible to work in the field if you're in a well-funded lab in a well-funded university. It takes a lot more ambition than most people have, to do it otherwise, and it's now more difficult than ever, but it's been done. >many of these chemicals are dangerous. The first laboratory I built on my own was in a room rated by the fire marshal for storage of hazardous materials. So we could work with many kilos of chemicals and samples without running afoul of the regulations. I personally made sure there was way better ventilation than they have in the chemical plants before instrumenting the lab. There were neighbors but it was an industrial suburb. For a while there they had more welding tanks, drums of paint, heavy diesel trucks, etc than we did toxins but eventually we outdid them with our growing storage sheds out in the yard. You just don't try this at home. You don't realize how nice it is to have a refuge from toxicity when that's not what you have at work.