Letters to a Young Chemist

What’s it really like to be a chemist?

Leading chemists share what they do, how they do it, and why they love it.

“Letters to a young …” has been a much-loved way for professionals in a field to convey their enthusiasm and the realities of what they do to the next generation. Now, Letters to a Young Chemist does the same for the chemical sciences. Written with a humorous touch by some of today’s leading chemists, this book presents missives to “Angela,” a fictional undergraduate considering a career in chemistry. The different chapters offer a mix of fundamental principles, contemporary issues, and challenges for the future. Marye Anne Fox, Chancellor of the University of California San Diego, talks about learning to do research and modern physical organic chemistry. Brothers Jonathan and Daniel Sessler explain the chemistry of anesthetics that make modern surgery possible while Elizabeth Nolan talks about biological imaging. Terry Collins talks about green chemistry, a more sustainable way of doing chemistry, while several authors including Carl Wamser, Harry Gray, John Magyar, and Penny Brothers discuss the crucial contributions that chemists can make in meeting global energy needs.

Letters to a Young Chemist gives students and professionals alike a unique window into the real world of chemistry. Entertaining, informative, and full of honest and inspiring advice, it serves as a helpful guide throughout your education and career.

“The different chapters describe both the wonders of the molecular world and the practical benefits afforded by chemistry ... and if any girl out there thinks that chemistry is a man’s world, this book should be a good antidote.” —Marye Anne Fox, Chancellor of the University of California, San Diego, and winner of the 2009 US National Medal of Science

“Letters to a Young Chemist offers significant ammunition for motivating young people to consider chemistry as a career. ... This book should also be required reading for all faculty members who teach chemistry in high schools, colleges, and universities.” —Stephen J. Lippard, Arthur Amos Noyes Professor of Chemistry, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and winner of the 2006 US National Medal of Science

Foreword vii
Stephen J. Lippard

Preface xiii

Contributors xix

Part I From Fundamentals to Applications 1

1. Let’s Get Physical 3
Marye Anne Fox

2. In Silico: An Alternate Approach to Chemistry and Biology 19
David A. Case

3. The Purple Planet: A Short Tour of Porphyrins and Related Macrocycles 33
Abhik Ghosh

4. Anesthesia: Don’t Forget Your Chemistry 51
Jonathan L. Sessler and Daniel I. Sessler

5. The Green Evolution 77
Terrence J. Collins

Part II Chemistry and the Life Sciences 95

6. Thinking Like an Enzyme 97
Judith P. Klinman v

7. Making Sense of Oxygen 109
Marie-Alda Gilles-Gonzalez

8. Let’s Visualize Biology: Chemistry and Cellular Imaging 119
Elizabeth M. Nolan

9. Bioinorganic Chemistry: Show Your Mettle by Meddling with Metals 137
Kara L. Bren

10. Better Than Sliced Bread 155
Chaitan Khosla

11. Choreographing DNA 165
Cynthia J. Burrows

Part III Functional Materials 177

12. Supramolecules to the Rescue! 179
Seth M. Cohen

13. Biomaterials at the Beach: How Marine Biology Uses Chemistry to Make Materials 197
Jonathan J. Wilker

14. The Advantage of Being Small: Nanotechnology 217
Michael J. Sailor

Part IV Chemistry and Energy 239

15. Happy Campers: Chemists’ Solutions to Energy Problems 241
Penelope J. Brothers

16. Clean Electrons and Molecules Will Save the World 261
Carl C. Wamser

17. Metals, Microbes, and Solar Fuel 279
Harry B. Gray and John S. Magyar

Index 291

“Therefore, this book is a useful tool for faculty mentoring students in a chemistry club, or even using the book in courses on careers or professionalism in chemistry.” (Journal of Chemical Education, 11 June 2012)

"Finally this book helps teachers and scholars at universities to get ideas how to think about their own research fields in order to motivate young students and to wake enthusiasm for the wonderful and widely spread world of chemistry. So that they not only learn or study chemical facts but also live the science. For all other readers this book is an entertaining reading matter." (Materials and Corrosion, 2011)

"A great resource for career mentoring. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Teachers and students of chemistry at all levels." (Choice, 1 January 2012)

"Lippard also says that the book should be ‘required reading for all faulty members who teach chemistry in high schools, colleges, and universities'. I would endorse this view, as I found the book to provide excellent insights into many unfamiliar areas of modern chemistry." (Chemistry World, 1 September 2011)

"This is a somewhat unusual book that is well worth reading . . .The book is well constructed with print of a relatively large font size." (ISSX (International Society for the Study of Xenobiotics), 1 November 2011)

"This title deserves to be held by every public library as the interested layperson will quickly come to see just why it is that our discipline is so exciting and vibrant, and what it is that makes it so essential for the future of humankind." (Chemistry in New Zealand, 1 July 2011)

"In this imaginative book, 17 chemists give their best advice in letters to Angela, an imaginary chemistry undergraduate who is thinking about making a career in the field. In the process, the contributors provide an excellent overview of chemistry as a whole, and give a good sense of the challenging and rewarding work that chemists do." (Booknews, 1 June 2011)

Abhik Ghosh, Editor, is a professor of inorganic and materials chemistry at the University of Tromso, Norway. A former Senior Fellow at the San Diego Supercomputer Center and a frequent Visiting Research Fellow at The University of Auckland, New Zealand, he has recently completed a term as an Outstanding Younger Researcher of the Research Council of Norway. He serves or has served on the editorial advisory boards of the Journal of Inorganic Biochemistry, the Journal of Biological Inorganic Chemistry, and the Journal of Porphyrins and Phthalocyanines. His research interests lie at the intersection of bioinorganic, materials and computational chemistry. What's it really like to be a chemist?

Leading chemists share what they do, how they do it, and why they love it.

"Letters to a young ..." has been a much-loved way for professionals in a field to convey their enthusiasm and the realities of what they do to the next generation. Now, Letters to a Young Chemist does the same for the chemical sciences.

Written with a humorous touch by some of today's leading chemists, Letters to a Young Chemist presents missives to "Angela," a fictional undergraduate considering a career in chemistry. The different chapters offer a mix of fundamental principles, contemporary issues, and challenges for the future. Marye Anne Fox, Chancellor of the University of California San Diego, talks about learning to do research and modern physical organic chemistry. Brothers Jonathan and Daniel Sessler explain the chemistry of anesthetics that make modern surgery possible while Elizabeth Nolan talks about biological imaging. Terry Collins talks about green chemistry, a more sustainable way of doing chemistry, while several authors including Carl Wamser, Harry Gray, John Magyar, and Penny Brothers discuss the crucial contributions that chemists can make in meeting global energy needs.

Letters to a Young Chemist gives students and professionals alike a unique window into the real world of chemistry. Entertaining, informative, and full of honest and inspiring advice, it will serve as a helpful guide throughout your education and career.

"The different chapters describe both the wonders of the molecular world and the practical benefits afforded by chemistry ... and if any girl out there thinks that chemistry is a man's world, this book should be a good antidote."
—Marye Anne Fox, Chancellor of the University of California, San Diego, and winner of the 2009 US National Medal of Science.

"Letters to a Young Chemist offers significant ammunition for motivating young people to consider chemistry as a career. ... This book should also be required reading for all faculty members who teach chemistry in high schools, colleges, and universities."
—Stephen J. Lippard, Arthur Amos Noyes Professor of Chemistry, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and winner of the 2006 US National Medal of Science.