It is hard to believe in today’s world that there was actually a time when Chemistry was embraced by the public from a completely positive perspective. A time when society avidly attended lectures on key chemistry experiments and actively chose to bring the science into their own homes and into their own hands. This era is demonstrated best through the history and evolution of chemistry sets (most recently presented in an innovative exhibit created by the Chemical Heritage Foundation). What generated the public love of chemistry? What killed that love? And can anything be done to make that excitement, interest, and support, like the Phoenix, rise from the ashes?

Public embracement of chemistry: An historical perspective

253rd National Meeting (2017)

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