Monthly Archives: June 2010

Avery Morton – synthetic chemist extraordinaire

Posted on June 30, 2010 by

The latest Classic Kit column goes online some time in the next 48 hours. It’s about Avery Adrian Morton, a brilliant synthetic chemist who specialized in heterocycles, but who first figured out how to make organosodium compounds and who came … Continue reading →

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It’s the carbon…..

Posted on June 22, 2010 by

Every few months all of us get statements from our energy suppliers (pushers?). Each one is invariably accompanied by a helpful booklet that tells us all the things we should have done to reduce our bills. Like insulation. Or replacing … Continue reading →

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Budget Day

Posted on June 22, 2010 by

It’s budget day and new Tory/Lib-dem government are going to wield the axe over all sorts of things and raising taxes all over the place. A lot of what’s going to happen has been widely trailed and the media are … Continue reading →

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Bar 10

Posted on June 16, 2010 by

It was real honour to be invited by Spike Marchant and Tony Conigliaro a.k.a. the Drink Factory, to give a talk called “A Vesper and a Bang” at the annual London convention of the bar and drinks industry, Bar 10. … Continue reading →

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Winding down from Cheltenham

Posted on June 15, 2010 by

I’m slowly coming down from the manic high that was Cheltenham Science Festival. Yup. As I had thought at the outset, I had clearly agreed to do more events than was sensible. That meant that I spent my whole time … Continue reading →

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Back from Cheltenham – Crash.

Posted on June 14, 2010 by

Well, I suppose I should have been tweeting and facebooking for the past few days. There as no time and I’m dog tired. I thought I might spend a bit of time writing about why Cheltenham was so great this … Continue reading →

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The day after BBC Breakfast

Posted on June 10, 2010 by

Well, the BBC Breakfast gig went off OK. The best bit, was in fact when I failed to blow up a hydrogen balloon in the 15 second slot we had at 8 am. The splint went out when I stuck … Continue reading →

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Packing for Cheltenham

Posted on June 8, 2010 by

So I’ve managed to fill a mere six crates with stuff for Cheltenham. You name it. It’s in there. Animal, vegetable, mineral. It makes beamtime at a synchrotron seem a bit of a joke by comparison. And my friend Mark … Continue reading →

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Cheltenham Science Festival

Posted on June 5, 2010 by

What links Shorea Stenoptera, pig’s bladders, a bright red unicycle and some barking dogs? It can only  be the Cheltenham Science Festival, now only five days away. For me it means Five shows in three days and a lot panic … Continue reading →

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Demonstrating the irresponsible

Posted on June 4, 2010 by

I recently watched one of the better known chemistry demonstration shows, which, I confess left me in part underwhelmed, but also rather appalled. Part way through the lecture the famous SF6 floating boat demo was carried out. If you haven’t … Continue reading →

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