Question: What are your lectures about?

James Sullivan answered on 7 Nov 2014:

Hi Swanee,

Thanks for the question.
The content of my lectures varies depending on the class I’m lecturing to. In first year I give courses of introductory chemistry where I talk about atoms, bonds, molecules, and a bit of the history of chemistry.
In second year I give a course talking about pollution and cover things like smog, the ozone hole, the greenhouse effect and water pollution.
I have two third year courses. In one I talk about how analytical instrumentation works – for example when the forensic analyst puts a sample in the machine and the machine spits out a number, how does the machine work?
In the second third year course I talk about how the shape or symmetry of a molecule affects its properties.
In a fourth year course I lecture about solid catalysts, how to make them, study them to find out what their characteristics are and how to use them in industrial settings.

I hope this helps,
James