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Better Living through Chemistry? Links for each Mini-Science 2011 talk

The United Nations General Assembly has declared 2011 as the International Year of Chemistry, with goals of increasing the public appreciation of chemistry in meeting world needs, and of increasing the interest of young people in the subject.

Our goal for Mini-Science 2011 is that participants will take on the challenge of discussing the role of chemistry in daily life. The idea isn't to become uncritical cheerleaders for chemistry, but rather to understand the importance of molecular behaviour when making decisions about therapeutics, toxicity, nuclear power, sustainable energy, neurochemistry and nanotechnology. The slogan of the International Year of Chemistry is Chemistry—Our Life, Our Future.

Here are some links to articles by leading scientists about how chemistry is our life and our future.

March 16, "Chemicals for Better and for Worse" by Joe Schwarcz.

  • No need to fear a Happy new year of chemistry (Montreal Gazette; hyperlink currently unavailable): Learn how everything in life somehow connects to chemistry, and why it is important to know how chemicals react and respond, both inside our bodies and outside.
  • Book review: Dr. Joe's BrainSparks, by Joe Schwarcz: a review of Dr. Schwarcz's latest book.

March 23, "From the chemistry of chicken soup to the chemistry of the brain and behaviour" by Amir Raz.

Neurochemistry is the specific study of neurochemicals, which include neurotransmitters and other molecules such as neuro-active drugs that influence neuron function.

  • Basic Neurochemistry (1999) is the classic and highly respected textbook about molecular, cellular, and medical aspects of Neurochemistry. It is still used to teach neuroscience and medicine today. You can search the chapters of this book on-line!
  • Brain Chemistry is a crash course on brain chemicals and neurotransmitters from the Website on Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS), Fibromyalgia Syndrome (FMS), and Gulf War Syndrome (GWS).
  • Typologies of attentional networks [.pdf] is a review of the history of the neurochemistry and behaviour by Amir Raz and Jason Buhle.

March 30, "From Jesuit's bark to synchrotrons - The rise and fall of an antimalarial" by Scott Bohle.

April 6, "Biofuels - Sustainable energy as the oil runs out?" by Donald Smith.

As crude oil supplies diminish and climate change continues the importance of finding renewable energy sources is becoming increasingly apparent. Biofuels are likely to be one such source, but many aspects of this new fuel are controversial or remain to be worked out.

  • Learn the basics about biofuels in Don Smith's slide show, "Bio-oils in a Sustainable Energy Future" (hyperlink currently unavailable).
  • ...and then discover more about McGill’s biofuel innovations in his slide show "Sustainable Crop and Biofuel Innovation at McGill" [.pdf].

April 13, "The dance of the molecules in cells" by Paul Wiseman.

  • Read how sophisticated forms of nanotechnology will find some of their first real-world applications in biomedical research, disease diagnosis and, possibly, therapy, in "Less is more in Medicine", an article by A. Paul Alivisatos in a special edition of Scientific American (September 2001, pp. 66-73) about nanotechnology. *
  • Jeff W. Lichtman's Scientific American article entitled "Confocal Microscopy" (August 1994, pp. 40-45) provides an overview of the history and development of confocal or 3D microscopy. *
  • The Powers of Ten website illustrates the concept of small.

* These two Scientific American articles are available electronically as .pdf documents to registered participants; please send an email to mini.science [at] mcgill.ca (Mini Science) .

April 20, "Nuclear Power - Energy for the future?" by Ariel Fenster.

April 27, "The Magic of Chemistry" by Ariel Fenster, David Harpp and Joe Schwarcz.

The founders of the Office for Science and Society team up for the popular "Magic of Chemistry" show that they have presented over 250 times since the late 1990s. Using research, humour, and a bit of eccentricity they touch-on topics ranging from rocket science to lipstick, as well as giving a little cooking lesson.

  • There are no official readings for this presentation but you can read "A sit down with Dr. Joe," a review about Dr. Schwarcz and his style of teaching from the McGill Daily.

General links

Here are some links to websites and electronic resources for Mini-Science participants.

McGill Science homepage and blog

Alumnilife, the McGill Alumni Online Community

Science Outreach at McGill broadcasts our scientific expertise to a wider community through programs and activities such as talks, lab visits, family workshops, classroom presentations, and documentary films.


Library links

The Libraries homepage includes links to all library resources at McGill.

Branch libraries of particular interest to Mini-Science include:

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