After a career of 25 years of lecturing in chemistry , I grew to quite love the deep understanding I developed of the basic underlying structures of “substances” which surround us in this world. From the rocks to the trees to the rivers to the animals, and, yes, the substances that make us up and make our bodies work. From the paint on the walls to the plaster in them, the wood and steel, and aluminium, alloys, plastics, and so on, I came to deeply understand what makes it all hold together, how it comes apart, and malfunctions, and so on, I find it all magical, even out to the infinitude of the cosmos.
Even after 27 years of retirement, I adore it, and respect what I see modern chemists doing. It amazes me, and they amaze me. Think plastics, as in cell phones and cameras. Think metals, lubricants, and anticorrosion agents. Think printing inks and papers. Think medical applications, from the simplest tablets to complex DNA manipulation – all chemistry. Chemistry turned me on from a very young age, and I was lucky enough to study it deeply, and then impart it to innumerable students. I couldn’t agree more with the following article:-
Chief scientist thinks chemistry offers Australia a bright future.