From 27 January, a flood of events, conferences, schools, workshops and exhibitions with the common denominator of chemistry will be developed throughout the world, with the main objective of holding this discipline and put in the context that actually has its own right. That day will officially commence the International Year of Chemistry with the opening ceremony in Paris, organized by UNESCO and the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry.
In Spain the official launch ceremony will be in February at the headquarters of the CSIC in Madrid, one of the centers more and better chemistry developed in our country. Today
most of our citizens know that chemistry is the science of the matter around us and the so-called transformed by chemical reactions. However, the chemistry is much more than this formal definition. Part of our everyday universe and everything we are and everything around us is chemistry.
The International Year of Chemistry is a wonderful opportunity chemicals to change our everyday speech that "chemistry has a bad image in our society," wherein other announce the tremendous expectations that our science has to substantially improve the quality of our lives and make our future better. The most important problems facing our civilization require the participation of all the sciences in a coordinated fashion, especially of chemistry, which is called the central science. It is therefore time to use as a spring celebration to boost their knowledge and also to identify those problems whose final solution can not be achieved without them.
The prestigious Nature, in its first issue this year, falls in this aspect, indicating that, in the opinion of certain chemicals prestigious, we find in our near future. However, the fundamental problems to solve in the future and where our civilization, understood as such, plays or may not be and had been raised by earlier by chemicals such as George M. Whitesides (MIT), who asserts that never before chemistry had better opportunities and most important research carried out to solve problems in basic science and applied science, which are the ones that really matter to society.
In this sense, despite some scientists (not chemical) consider chemistry a science and made no major problems to address, it should be noted with resounding forcefulness that fundamental questions such as human understanding of the cell and the nature of life, origin of life, molecular recognition in water or the molecular basis of sense perception and intelligence are some of the unanswered questions of concern to humans and will need to answer to really get to know and understand what we are.
But also, there are no less important issues affecting the development of social welfare and the environment in which we live that, although considered practical issues require even be addressed with greater urgency from the field of science. I refer to the central issue of energy and derivatives thereof, such as environmental conservation, global warming, pollution, poor water quality and food and so forth.
All this without neglecting the need for the advancement of chemistry in such important aspects as the design and development of new drugs and stem uncontrolled disease still present and address to come. And, for example, development of new and more effective catalysts to optimize production processes (atom economy and elimination of products solvents and contaminants) of the vast amount of chemicals that our society demands. That is, the challenge will be to reach a green chemistry, new chemical processes require redesign work in less extreme conditions, ie make a better, more creative chemistry.
chemistry faces, so many major challenges for our society and certainly never did. However, the high degree of knowledge generated both in the manipulation and modification of the molecules (synthesis) and structural determination of new compounds obtained (instrumental and spectroscopic techniques) and new materials created with unconventional properties than ever as they now can face these challenges with greater assurance.
science and, therefore, chemistry, is one of the most sublime creations of man but also of women. This year marks the centenary of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Marie Curie in 1911 by the discovery of two radioactive chemical elements, polonium and radium, actually happened in 1898. There is no doubt that no other woman had a significance for science and for the advancement of women like her, who besides having previously received the 1903 Nobel Prize in Physics (shared with her husband, Pierre Curie, and Henri Becquerel) for their contributions to the discovery of spontaneous radioactivity was also the first woman who taught at the university, when in 1906 he accepted the chair of physics at the Sorbonne in Paris.
The presence of women in science is relatively recent. Suffice it to recall that in Spain, the first woman to be enrolled at a university was Maria Elena Masek in 1872, thanks to special permission of King Amadeus of Savoy and makes only 100 years since the decree was passed which allowed female enrollment in college.
Although, fortunately, this situation can be normalized, according to a report of no CSIC differences between the scientific production of men and women, but substantial differences in access to positions of greater responsibility and salary and, therefore, in professional recognition. Is an urgent task and responsibility of all, both public and private institutional or personal, end this difference, today, is just unacceptable discrimination.
face so many important challenges would not be a coincidence that the years ahead are spectators of a true "chemical revolution." 2011 could be the year zero. MARTIN 19/01/2011 NAZARIO
ElPais.com
1, Daniel Hermida Cabrera Bach.B
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