Letters: February 2024
Readers reminsce about the launch of Chemistry World 20 years ago, and ponder the problems of decarbonisation, PFAS and fireworks
The first Chemistry World
Congratulations to the staff of Chemistry World on the 20th anniversary of the magazine.
I worked on Chemistry World during its first seven years. Producing the first issue was fraught with difficulties which were all overcome, enabling the launch to take place on time.
Chemistry World would have a broader vision and appeal than its predecessor, Chemistry in Britain, and also a new location – moving from London to Cambridge. Most of the previous staff took redundancy, and so staff in Cambridge picked things up.
The new magazine was also to be produced using new desktop publishing software that was unfamiliar to everyone. We refused, however, to accept defeat and after training courses on the software and long hours spent writing, sourcing pictures and so on, we produced the first issue – how we did it will always be a mystery to me! I still treasure my Chemistry World mug which I received to commemorate the launch – probably worth a fortune now!
Going further back, I remember the launch of Chemistry in Britain when I was a student back in 1965. It was launched when the Chemical Society and the Royal Institute of Chemistry merged their two monthly publications, Proceedings of the Chemical Society and the Journal of the Royal Institute of Chemistry as a ‘taster’ of the two societies working together, prior to their merger (along with the Society for Analytical Chemistry and the Faraday Society).
The last 20 years have seen many developments of the magazine under a series of editors who have all contributed to the present Chemistry World, which has evolved from a simple members’ magazine to a chemistry information resource available in formats unheard of back in 1965, and even in 2004.
All the best to Chemistry World for the future.