WHO NEEDS CHEMISTRY?

Chemistry is often called “the central science” as it shares a significant overlap with many other scientific and technological fields. Advances in chemistry have significantly influenced humanity’s development, with chemistry now directly involved in almost everything we interact with.

Chemical products are either Materials (plastics and composites) or Processing Aids. 

The Chemical industry has continued to grow through substitution of existing materials or improving processes to enhance the performance and effectiveness of everyday things.

Chemistry has enhanced the performance of clothing and furnishings (Textiles), car interiors and catalytic convertors, electrolytes in batteries (Engineering Materials), vitamin additives, nutraceuticals and preservatives in food (Food Ingredients), packaging materials, enzymes in laundry detergent and other consumer products (Speciality Chemicals), in pharmaceuticals and healthcare, in fertilisers and crop protection (Fine Chemicals) and in suspensions or solutions in beauty products (Personal Care) and in paints and coatings.

And of course, Chemistry is at the centre of the transition to newer forms of energy generation, storage and transmission.

There is no clear founding point for the modern field of chemistry, but significant moments in the 18th and 19th century include the development of stoichiometry by Antoine Lavoisier, atomic theory by John Dalton, the concept of molecules by Amedeo Avogadro, the periodic table by Dmitri Mendeleev, and radioactivity by Marie Curie, Pierre Curie and Henri Becquerel.

This was followed by important discoveries during the 20th century such as the pH scale by Søren Sørenson, the types of chemical bonds by Linus Pauling, the first plastic by Leo Baekeland and the structure of DNA by Francis Crick, James Watson and Rosalind Franklin.

Current trends in research include focus on sustainability, addressing issues such as climate change and air quality.