Why the periodic table won't connect with the general public
‘Chemistry’ still has about as much resonance as ‘annual tax return’
Poor old chemists. As soon as they do anything sexy, their most successful efforts are often rebranded as molecular biology, nanotechnology, prebiotic evolution, protein engineering, materials science or anything so long as it avoids the c-word. Chemistry has about as much resonance with the average person (whoever that is) as ‘engineer’, ‘terms and conditions’ or ‘annual tax return’.
Will this change with this year’s hoopla around the 150th anniversary of the publication of Dmitri Mendeleev’s periodic table? Will this anniversary turn out to be an amazing opportunity for outreach and public engagement? Will it spur mass adoration and worship of the central science?