Jonathan Clayden: ‘I like to feel that we have set the curriculum rather than followed the curriculum’
The co-author of the much-loved Organic Chemistry shares his insights on creating a chemistry textbook
Rewriting the textbooks – authors tell us how they do it
Peter Atkins, Catherine Housecroft and Jonathan Clayden guide us through the changing world of textbooks
Catherine Housecroft: ‘Undergraduates do not want to buy big, heavy textbooks’
The author of the authoritative Inorganic Chemistry discusses how changing student attitudes have led the shift to digital resources
Peter Atkins: ‘Rather than a single author book with an author’s voice, it’s becoming more of a committee construction’
The author of the venerable Physical Chemistry on how writing chemistry textbooks has changed over his career
Seveso’s lessons must not be forgotten
The disaster’s legacy is a testament to science’s humanitarian duty
The evolving landscape of pain drug discovery
Harnessing the power of human-relevant in vitro models
The scientific career clock in China
Age limits on funding and recruitment programmes place unhelpful pressures on early-career researchers
The summer I became a science journalist
Mason Wakley on being a science writer intern at the Royal Society of Chemistry
Our columnists
Philip Ball is an award-winning journalist, author and broadcaster who explores the history and philosophy of chemistry
Would mirror life really threaten our own?
New modelling suggests that even if we could create cells based on mirror-image biomolecules, their natural counterparts would outcompete them in the wild
Raychelle Burks is an associate professor in the US and an award-winning science communicator and broadcaster.
Strands of investigation
LC–MS/MS techniques applied to hair can provide some answers when other analytical techniques aren’t possible
Nessa Carson is a synthetic organic research chemist based in Macclesfield, UK
Implementing ideas in industry
An initial thought can take on a life of its own as different stakeholders contribute their expertise
Chemjobber is a US-based industry insider, telling tales of tank reactors and organic obstacles
Traffic jams in the chemical plant
What happens between a big order coming in and going out?
Derek Lowe is a medicinal chemist in the US, sharing wit and wisdom from a life spent in preclinical drug discovery
What kinds of reactions do you do most?
Variety may be the spice of life, but there’s space for the boring but effective
Chris Nawrat (aka BRSM) is a process chemist at a major pharmaceutical company in the US
(±)-Conidiogenone B
A beautiful synthesis that measures up to an ideal
Vanessa Seifert explores philosophical issues from the novel perspective of chemistry
How much history should there be in science education?
Understanding how previous shifts in scientific understanding occurred affects how we view current theories
Andrea Sella is a professor of inorganic chemistry in the UK with a passion for unravelling the unlikely origins of scientific kit
Alfred Wilm and the hardening of metals
How do you prepare for a so-called accidental discovery?
Research landscape
Why I think it’s time to change how we teach the inductive effect
New evidence challenges the idea of long‑range inductive transmission, highlighting that some textbook explanations of inductive effects are oversimplified and, in key cases, completely wrong
Africa should treat entrepreneurial science as a lifeline, not a luxury
Synchronised action from universities, policymakers and scientists is needed to bridge the gap from ideas to impact
The current academic system doesn’t incentivise risk-taking
But playing it safe can have negative consequences for a field
The scientific career clock in China
Age limits on funding and recruitment programmes place unhelpful pressures on early-career researchers
As a first-generation student, I didn’t have a clue what I was doing
And that brought challenges and unexpected opportunites
The chemist anthropologist
What new species remain to be discovered in the lab?
Some voices conspicuously silent when it comes to Trump’s science policies
Research-intensive universities have been targeted in an unprecedented and unrelenting manner since Donald Trump retook the White House
Industry landscape
What kinds of reactions do you do most?
Variety may be the spice of life, but there’s space for the boring but effective
GSK agrees $10 billion deal for Nuvalent cancer drugs
Deal includes two late-stage molecules to augment GSK’s renewed cancer therapy pipeline
How far will EU push for fairer trade with China?
Strengthening rules on pharmaceutical and chemical trade could protect critical industries
British Steel’s nationalisation plan contrasts against chemical industry decline
UK steel production has been declining for decades thanks to high costs and cheap imports
Letters: July 2026
Readers discuss stamp collection, half drops and more
Profiles
Watching unpaired electrons at work
From building the Centre for Pulse EPR at Imperial to probing electron transfer in real time, Maxie Rößler is pushing an overlooked technique into the spotlight
Ben Zhong Tang: ‘If you have to do something, try to do it well’
The polymer chemist on finding love for a subject, working with others and staying optimistic
Detecting airborne pathogens by DNA sequencing
UK spin-out Agnos Biosciences turned a ‘wacky idea’ into a sensor with applications from agriculture to hospitals
Detecting airborne pathogens by DNA sequencing
UK spin-out Agnos Biosciences turned a ‘wacky idea’ into a sensor with applications from agriculture to hospitals
When vanadium almost changed how we treat type 2 diabetes
Chris Orvig tells the story of BEOV
Bursting bubbles break down PFAS
Mantisonix is using ultrasound to destroy fluorochemical pollutants in water
Steve Liddle: ‘Try and do something different to what everyone else is doing’
The organometallic chemist on working with the f-elements, following your instinct and remaining grounded
Breaking bonds and bringing disciplines together to replace one of chemistry’s most controversial molecules
Rebecca Trager meets an organic chemist catalysing the search for BPA replacements by connecting synthetic chemists, data scientists, toxicologists and polymer chemists
What do university chemistry practicals really test?
By Nitheeshan Gunanantham
In Nitheeshan Gunanantham’s experience, stamina can become a stand-in for skill
The current academic system doesn’t incentivise risk-taking
By Stuart Smith
But playing it safe can have negative consequences for a field