“Chemistry is our life, our future”

The International Year of Chemistry will begin in Russia on February 15

2011 was declared by the UN as the International Year of Chemistry. This was done at the initiative of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC). The year will be held under the motto “Chemistry is our life, our future.” The main goal of this project is to popularize chemistry and talk about the achievements of this science, which is important for all mankind.

On January 27, 2011, the official opening of the Year of Chemistry took place at UNESCO headquarters in Paris, and in Russia the “chemical year” will begin on February 15. In the Great Hall of the Russian Academy of Sciences, on the day of publication of our newspaper, a grand opening ceremony should take place and scientific reports should be presented.

All events held this year are designed to promote understanding of the role of chemistry among various segments of society and increase interest in chemical sciences among young people. In addition, it is planned to highlight the role of women scientists in the development of chemistry and note important events in the history of this science. Thus, 2011 marks the 100th anniversary of the founding of the International Association of Chemical Societies.

The report “Marie Curie - the thread of fate” by Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences Natalya Tarasova will, perhaps, be of particular importance. The International Year of Chemistry coincided with the 100th anniversary of the Nobel Prize being awarded to the remarkable physicist and chemist M. Curie (1911). The highest scientific award was awarded to her “for outstanding services in the development of chemistry: the discovery of the elements radium and polonium, the isolation of radium and the study of the nature and compounds of this wonderful element.”

It is worth recalling that Marie Curie is so far the only woman to win the Nobel Prize twice. In 1903, she and her husband Pierre Curie received the Nobel Prize in Physics “for distinguished services in joint research into the phenomena of radiation.” Subsequently, in 1935, their eldest daughter Irène Joliot-Curie, together with her husband Frédéric Joliot, would become laureates of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry “for the synthesis of new radioactive elements.”

On September 18-23, 2011, the International Congress on Organic Chemistry will be held in Kazan, dedicated to the memory of the famous Russian chemist Alexander Butlerov. And a little later, on September 25-30, the 19th Mendeleev Congress on General and Applied Chemistry will be held in Volgograd.

For a detailed program for celebrating the International Year of Chemistry, see www.chemistry2011.org . The same website calls on everyone to join this holiday.

N.D.

Poster from www.chemistry2011.org