Chemistry Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter 1: Introduction
JAMES H. CLARK
manufacturing, but for many European countries
the ratio of unfavourable to favourable views was
alarmingly high (e.g. Sweden, 2.8; France, 2.2;
Spain, 1.5; Belgium, 1.3).
In the UK, a steady decline in public perception
over many years is clearly evident (Fig. 1.1). It is
especially disturbing to analyse the survey data more
closely and to note, for example, that the 16-24-year
age group has the lowest opinion of the chemicals
industries. This is the most critical group for chem-
istry. We need to maintain a high level of interest
and enthusiasm for chemistry at secondary and ter-
tiary education levels so that we can maintain the
supply of a large number of highly intelligent,
motivated and qualified young people for our indust-
ries, universities, schools and other walks of life. At
present, however, the poor image of chemistry is
adversely affecting demand. In the UK, for example,
the number of applicants to read chemistry at uni-
versity has been falling steadily for several years
(Fig. 1.2).
The number of applicants to read chemical engi-
neering is even more alarming (<1000 in the year
2000 in the UK). Similarly, even more worrying sta-
tistics are evident in many countries, although on a
more optimistic note the shortfall in suitably quali-
fied chemists is at least making prospective employ-
ers more competitive in the offers they are mak-
ing to potential recruits. This should lead to
greater remuneration benefits in a profession where
salary does not always reflect qualifications and
achievement.
Why does chemistry suffer from such a tarnished
image? Public opinion is fickle and subject to mis-
understanding and confusion, often reinforced by
the media. The pharmaceuticals industry, for
example, is highly regarded by the public despite the
fact that it represents an increasingly large part
of the chemicals industries. 'Chemistry' does not
cause the same hostile reaction as 'chemicals'
because it is the latter that many people associate
with disasters, spills and unwanted additives to their
1 Introduction
1.1 Chemistry—past, present and future
Chemistry is having a difficult time. While society
continues to demand larger quantities of increasingly
sophisticated chemical products, it also regards the
industries that manufacture these products with
increasing degrees of suspicion and fear.
The range of chemical products in today's society
is enormous and these products make an invaluable
contribution to the quality of our lives. In medi-
cine, the design and manufacture of pharmaceutical
products has enabled us to cure diseases that
have ravaged humankind throughout history. Crop
protection and growth enhancement chemicals have
enabled us to increase our food yields dramatically.
It is particularly revealing to note that, although the
twentieth century saw an increase in world popula-
tion from 1.6 to 6 billion, it also saw an increase in
life expectancy of almost 60% [1]!
Chemistry has played, and continues to play, a
fundamental role in almost every aspect of modern
society, and, as the enormous populations in China,
India and the emerging nations demand western
levels of healthcare, food, shelter, transport and con-
sumer goods, so the demands on the chemicals
industries will grow.
The successful development of the chemicals
industries has almost had an inverse relationship
with public perception. Since writing, over five years
ago, in the introduction to
The Chemistry of Waste
Minimisation
, that 'The public image of the chemi-
cal industry has badly deteriorated in the last ten
years . . .' [2], the situation has worsened. Major sur-
veys of public opinion throughout Europe in 2000
revealed that in no country was the majority of
people favourably disposed towards the chemical
industry [3,4]. The most favourable interpretation of
the data is that in some of the major centres of chem-
icals manufacturing (e.g. Germany) more people
gave positive than negative views on chemicals
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