Better communication for chemists
When members of the public think of chemistry, they often conjure images of explosions and pollution rather than of new materials, drugs, or energy solutions. That’s the view being taken by a National Research Council report released earlier this month that aims to give chemists better tools for explaining chemistry to nonscientists. “We need to break down that barrier,” said Northwestern University chemistry professor Mark A. Ratner at a press conference last week at the American Chemical Society national meeting. Ratner is cochair of the committee that created the report. “ Effective Chemistry Communication in Informal Environments” argues that chemists face special challenges when communicating with the public. Most people take just one high school chemistry class. And outside of school, chemistry is underrepresented in the public discourse about science. For example, chemistry is the scientific field least likely to be shared online, the report shows, and it is underrepresented