Because it isn’t there
By 
Neil Withers2022-02-09T09:39:00
Why do chemists do what they do? The underlying philosophy for many of us is the same as it has been for centuries
For mountaineers, the answer ‘Because it’s there’ is enough reason for why they want to climb mountains. For many chemists, the opposite is true: the creation of something completely new is what motivates us. As Alan Cowley of the University of Texas at Austin put it when asked why his group had made a particular compound: ‘Because it isn’t there.’