Everything Is Natural: Exploring How Chemicals Are Natural, How Nature Is Chemical and Why That Should Excite Us

Since the early 1990s, advances in toxicology have allowed scientists to detect traces of adulterant substances in everyday products - even down to parts per billion concentrations. We can now detect the presence of harmful ingredients at levels so low that they actually cause no harm. This book explores the history of chemical fears and the recent events that amplified it. It describes how consumers, teachers, doctors, lawmakers and journalists can help make better connections with the public by telling stories that are more engaging about chemistry and materials science.

About author(s):James Kennedy is a British chemistry teacher and passionate chemistry spokesperson. He founded the chemistry outreach initiative 'Sincerely, Chemicals' in 2017. Since graduating from the University of Cambridge with a Master's degree in Natural Sciences in 2010, James Kennedy has pursued a passion for science communication and science outreach by using festivals, lectures, seminars, conferences, posters and T-shirts to make chemistry more open and accessible for the public. He is a vocal pro-chemistry advocate who writes pro-chemistry articles and speaks in radio and podcast interviews. His first published book, 'Everything is Natural', stems from a passion to communicate the overwhelmingly positive contribution that science - particularly materials science and chemistry - has made to our modern standard of living. Currently, teaching chemistry to Monash University's Foundation Year students in Melbourne, Australia, he has been teaching for 9 years and researching the fear of chemicals for 4 years. He lives with his wife and daughter in Melbourne, Australia.