Behind the scenes with Neil Barnes, winner of the Royal Society’s Hauksbee award
The physical chemistry technician reveals the inspirations that have driven his 45-year-long career
When Neil Barnes was 11 years old he spotted a classified advert in the Nottingham Evening Post for a large ‘banana box’ of chemicals, which he begged his father to buy. To his delight, Barnes discovered that it was not only packed full of serious reagents but also contained metallic sodium and potassium. ‘Of course I set myself on fire with the potassium and my mum shouted at me because I burnt holes in my shirt,’ he laughs. He still has the sodium safely stored as a memento.
Barnes has been a physical chemistry technician at the University of Nottingham, UK for 45 years. He is a familiar face to fans of the hugely popular YouTube channel Periodic Videos, often appearing with his friend Martyn Poliakoff. In the videos, he can be seen creating impressive explosions, ‘boiling’ eggs in chemical solutions and investigating a famous scene in the TV series Breaking Bad where hydrofluoric acid is used to dissolve a human body. With his intense gaze and chemical expertise, students have even been known to liken Barnes to the series’ main character, Walter White.