Comment - A Lack of Investment in Science Education Will Be Disastrous for the Nation and the World

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CHEMISTRY MADE massive contributions to society in the 20th century: from penicillin, which has saved the lives of billions of people, ammonia- based fertiliser, which has increased the productivity of arable land tenfold, to mundane objects such as the humble plastic washing-up bowl and T-shirts and non-drip paint. In the 21st century, chemistry is undergoing a renaissance, making it more exciting than ever.

We are pretty good at top-down technology, but to make further progress we need to make things directly out of atoms by a bottom- up molecule-based approach, the way biology works and human beings in particular are constructed. If we can master this …