John Emsley (born 1938) is a UK popular science writer, broadcaster and academic specialising in chemistry. He researched and lectured at
King's College London
King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public research university located in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of King George IV and the Duke of Wellington. In 1836, King's ...
for 25 years, authoring or co-authoring about 100 papers, and then became Science Writer in Residence at Imperial College London in 1990. From 1997 to 2002 he was Science Writer in Residence at the Department of Chemistry at Cambridge University, England, during which time he started and wrote the newsletter Chem@Cam.
He is the author of more than 12 books and several of them have been translated into other languages.
Newspaper column
For six years Emsley wrote a column on chemistry for the ''
Independent
Independent or Independents may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups
* Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s
* Independ ...
'' called "Molecule of the Month".
Books
Emsley's published books include:
*''More Molecules of Murder'', (London): Royal Society of Chemistry, 2017.
*''Chemhistory'', Witley Press, 2017.
*''Chemistry at Home. Exploring the Ingredient in Everyday Products'', Cambridge UK: Royal Society of Chemistry, 2015.
*''Elements of Fortune'', ebook Witley Press, 2014.
*''Chemystery'', Witley Press, 2013.
*''The Newsletter. An EPIC tale of spin'', ebook Publicola Publishing , 2013.
*''Sweet Dreams, Nightmare Days'', Witley Press, 2013.
*''Islington Green: A Book of Revelation'', Witley Press, 2012.
*''A Healthy, Wealthy, Sustainable World'', Cambridge UK: Royal Society of Chemistry, 2010.
*''Molecules of Murder: Criminal Molecules and Classic Cases'', Cambridge, UK: Royal Society of Chemistry, 2008.
*''Better Looking, Better Living, Better Loving : how chemistry can help you achieve life's goals'', Weinheim: Wiley-VCH 2007.
*''The Elements of Murder'', Oxford University Press, 2005.
*''Vanity, Vitality, and Virility: the science behind the products you love to buy'', Oxford University Press, 2004.
*''Nature's Building Blocks: an A-Z Guide to the Elements'', Oxford University Press, 2001. 2nd edition 2011 ''Nature's building blocks : everything you need to know about the elements'', Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, 2011.
*''Shocking History of Phosphorus'', 2000. US Edition ''The 13th Element: The Sordid Tale of Murder, Fire, and Phosphorus'', 2001.
* with P. Fell, ''Was it something you ate? Food intolerance, what causes it and how to avoid it'', Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press, 1999.
*''Molecules at an Exhibition : portraits of intriguing materials in everyday life'', Oxford University Press, 1998.
*''Parfum, Portwein, PVC ...'', Weinheim : Wiley-VCH, 1997. In German.
*''The Consumer's Good Chemical Guide: Separating Facts from Fiction about Everyday Products'', W.H. Freeman, 1994.
(Winner of the
Rhone Poulenc Science Book Prize
The Royal Society Science Books Prize is an annual £25,000 prize awarded by the Royal Society to celebrate outstanding popular science books from around the world. It is open to authors of science books written for a non-specialist audience, and ...
1995). Also title ''The Consumer's Good Chemical Guide: a jargon-free guide to the chemicals of everyday life''.
*''The Elements'', Oxford University Press, 1989, 2nd edition 1991, 3rd edition 1998.
* ''Complex chemistry'', Berlin ; New York : Springer, 1984. Series: Structure and bonding, 57.
* with C. Hall, ''The Chemistry of Phosphorus: environmental, organic, inorganic, biochemical, and spectroscopic aspects'', Harper & Row, 1976.
* ''The inorganic chemistry of the non-metals'', London: Methuen Educational (1971).
External links
Biography and list of awardsJohn Emsley's website
References
British writers
British chemists
Living people
1938 births
Academics of King's College London
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