A Year of Chemistry 2011

Post date: Apr 04, 2012 11:7:12 PM

This entry is motivated by my recently revived (but always extant) interest in chemistry, subsequent to editing the Periodic Table of the Elements and biographical article for Dmitri Mendeleev on Wikipedia. I learned of the importance of the IUPAC, The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemists, and followed the IUPAC's International Year of Chemistry web footprint, albeit a year after the fact.

The IYC was IYC 2011, not IYC 2012. Yet there is so much to digest and enjoy, even after the fact! One fine example uses an always fascinating data visualization. In this instance, it is applied to that most important of chemical compounds, H₂O otherwise known as water. The Global Experiment of the International Year of Chemistry 2011 culminated in a global water experiment and visualization,reproduced here under CC-license/by-nc-sa/3.0/.

There were several other informative and fun displays, including a geographical mapping visual, although the Google Earth plug-in is required in order to fully appreciate them.

Other chemistry-related items

A more complete review of recent developments pertaining to the periodic table is available on my flagship website, of which everyone is no doubt well aware by now. Please see An Exciting Time in Chemistry with Periodic Table Gallery for further details.

I guess it should not have surprised me that chemists are often historians as well as stamp collectors or philatelists. My posts covers all of that, but not much more. Well, a few things: The discovery of two new elements, a chemistry tattoo and a silly cartoon.