Kit Chapman
After finishing my pharmacy degree at the University of Bradford (including a year working in community and hospital pharmacies), I decided to make the unconventional leap in to science journalism. I cut my teeth on magazines for GPs and pharmacists, before taking over campaigns on the British Medical Association’s website.
From there I headed back to pharmacy, managing all clinical content in The Pharmaceutical Journal and Clinical Pharmacist, before leaping at the chance to join the Chemistry World team. I also occasionally write a bit for the Daily Telegraph and pop up in assorted skeptical podcasts.
OpinionWilliam Knox, the only Black supervisor in the Manhattan Project
The story of the Knox family is one of education overcoming adversity, finds Kit Chapman
- Feature
The toxic tide of ship breaking
Kit Chapman explores the chemical cost of the most dangerous industry in the world
- Careers
The conference conundrum
Following the Covid-19 pandemic, is it time to rethink events for good?
- Research
Shortest-lived and lightest magnesium isotope ever too unstable to even attract electrons
Magnesium-18 cation has a fleeting half-life of 3 billion trillionths of a second
- News
Chemistry textbooks still portray men as scientists while women perform domestic duties
Unequal representation in terms of both roles and the number of women featured revealed
- Research
Berkelium complex opens door for future nuclear recycling
Complex is only the sixth ever created
- Research
Uranium’s strong covalent bond breaks periodic table predictions
Actinide’s unusual covalency could explain its ability to fix nitrogen
- Research
Heavy metal proteins are the secret weapon in ant bites
Protein-rich biomaterials containing zinc, manganese, copper and bromine allow ants, crabs and scorpions to pack more punch for their size
- Research
Actinium’s radius revised to solve cancer therapy mystery
For decades, scientists have been using the wrong ionic radius for one of Earth’s rarest element
- Business
Sartan contaminant recall hits generics manufacturers
Three European suppliers recalling multiple batches of medicines owing to active ingredient contamination
- Careers
Doctoring the doctorate
There are now more ways than ever before to complete your PhD, finds Kit Chapman
- Research
Oldest human-made quasicrystal discovered in remains of first nuclear blast
Almost 76 years ago, US scientists set off the first nuclear bomb – and accidentally created the first synthetic quasicrystal
- Research
Lightest uranium isotope yet reveals nuclear stability secrets
Discovery offers new insight into isotopic stability seen at ‘magic numbers’
- Feature
How rubber is bouncing back
From their colonial roots to future alternatives, Kit Chapman looks at the chemistry of natural elastomers
- Review
The Chemical Reaction
Badass chemical engineer Jaqueline Silver’s second outing has it all: explosives, villains and periodic table-based code cracking
- Opinion
Marguerite Perey and the last element in nature
Kit Chapman tells the story of the chemist who discovered francium, but was almost denied the credit
- Feature
The complex chemistry of fire
Despite its ubiquity in human life, chemists have still barely unlocked what’s happening amid the flames. Kit Chapman reports
- Feature
The Middle East’s synchrotron is open Sesame
How difficult is it to build a world-class research facility in the Middle East? Kit Chapman investigates
- Opinion
Jimmy Robinson and the atom bomb elements
USAF pilots flew into mushroom clouds to bring back samples that turned out to contain new elements – one of them didn’t make it home
- Feature
3D printing the future
Kit Chapman takes a tour of a US Department of Energy lab, where 3D printing is performed on a massive scale
