Last week we learned about the Royal Society. Ardaseer Cursetjee Wadia was mentioned in it as the first Indian FRS. Let’s get to know him better.

In an earlier article we discussed dyes. But for a long time, dyes like Royal Purple were extremely expensive. Did you know that dyes became affordable to many because of William Henry Perkin?

As fossil fuels become rarer, people are searching for alternative sources of energy. One of the most promising, yet controversial, is energy generated from nuclear reactions. Much of our knowledge of these reactions is owed to the Italian scientist Enrico Fermi.

In chemistry practicals, you mix chemicals in test tubes, grind them in mortars and boil them in retorts. Did you know that many of these common equipment and procedures were devised more than a thousand years ago by Jābir ibn Hayyān?

Often our elders tell us to stick to the ‘tried and tested’. But the best scientists have been those who refused to follow the familiar. One such is Yves Chauvin, who says you must steer clear of methods perfected over time!

When you read an encyclopaedia, ever wondered who had the patience to put it all together? One of the world’s oldest encyclopaedias was put together by a Roman writer called Gaius Plinius Secundus, or Pliny the Ender.

Richard Royce Schrock won a Nobel Prize for his contribution to metathesis, a chemical process that laid the foundation of green chemistry.

Few things are as important as water, which we know is made of oxygen and hydrogen. Did you know that Antoine Lavoisier was the discoverer of both elements?

As the 21st century progresses, we’re all aware that that our lives need to become more eco-friendly. Green chemistry is a way to make that happen. One of the pioneers of green chemistry is Robert Howard Grubbs.