Overview

Chemistry is the study of molecules, how they are created from atoms, how their structures affect their chemical and physical properties, and how they unite or assemble to form the matter that makes up the physical and natural world. Knowledge of chemistry is fundamental to an in-depth understanding of all materials in the natural world and the structural properties and biochemical reactions that define living systems. Indeed, chemistry interfaces with the life sciences, physics, mathematics, computer science, and engineering. Modern chemistry’s range of applications is broad, spanning many aspects of human activities such as the improvement of agriculture, the utility of alternative and renewable energies, the discovery of new drugs and medical diagnostics, and the creation of new materials by learning how molecules are assembled and how they recognize one another. Chemistry is at the heart of sustainability — meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of the earth to provide for future generations. It also drives the exciting field of nanotechnology, which generates new materials for devising ever smaller devices with enhanced computing or information storage characteristics, invents novel materials for innovative applications in industry and daily life, and constructs novel photosensitive materials for solar energy conversion to electricity, to cite just a few examples.