Introduction to Chemistry
Chemistry is the study of matter and the changes that matter undergoes via physical and chemical processes. Understanding these changes can be applied to the meaningful development of new products. Chemistry allows us to synthesize medications like human insulin, investigate alternative fuels to reduce global warming or develop new instrumentation useful for medical diagnostics like tumour detection.
CAREER OPPORTUNITIES
Depending on interests and training, chemists can work in any number of different organizations:
- Industry
- Government Laboratories
- Universities
- High Schools or Community Colleges
- Clinical Laboratories
- Other Career Opportunities
CHEMISTRY AS A PROFESSION
Most chemists are salaried employees and they usually manage to keep a conventional Monday-to-Friday workweek. However, atoms and molecules do not respect the clock, so it may occasionally be necessary to work overtime to finish an experiment.
BECOMING A CHEMIST
To become a professional chemist, a university degree is almost essential. Chemistry can be divided into a number of branches (organic, analytical, physical, inorganic, etc.) but undergraduates are not required to specialize.