>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,

>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.