Starting off with chemistry

When I was 16 my school told me they couldn’t timetable the three A-level subjects I wanted to combine together; maths, physics and history. Without a great deal of thought I switched history for chemistry. I thought that would make a reasonable fit with the remaining two I had really wanted, although I hadn’t been greatly enthused by chemistry at GCSE – there was too much focus on soaps, detergents and refining crude oil (which are all very well I suppose, but not all that exhilarating).

A-Level Chemistry

As it turned out, the timetabling issue was a blessing in disguise! Within about 4 weeks of starting my A-levels chemistry had unexpectedly became my favourite subject. However, it wasn’t exploding demonstrations with flashes and bangs that got my interest (although I remember a few of those). It was discovering a whole new world which, until that time, I had been more or less completely unaware of. I learnt about spdf orbitals and found out that electrons didn’t really behave like particles. I heard of something mysterious called “hydrogen bonding”, that seem to explain all kinds of things and meant that humble everyday water was actually really weird. I was introduced to the classic stories in the history of chemistry; Mendeleev creating the first periodic table and the ingenious experiments carried out to discover electrons and atomic nuclei. I started drawing pages of zig-zags and hexagons covered in curly arrows, which non-chemists would look at in bewilderment, but showed how reactions actually worked.

Since A-level chemistry

In the years since I have completed a degree and DPhil in chemistry, published several research papers and have even been teaching A-level myself for nearly 20 years. However, that initial excitement about chemistry has stayed with me. Through teaching I have been able to share these fascinating ideas with hundreds of students, even if not all of them have ultimately shared my enthusiasm! Hopefully this website will extend this process further and will also help you discover something of interest within the subject of chemistry.

Present day

Together with my wife and daughter I live in the amazingly named village of Steeple Bumpstead in Essex, England (it’s near Helions Bumpstead in case you are wondering). Here is a picture of the Tudor-era “Moot Hall” in the village, constructed in 1592 (exactly 400 years before I started my A-Level chemistry!):

And here is the village church of St. Mary’s where I ring the bells whenever possible:

Interestingly, I’ve met quite a few other chemists who ring church bells – is there a connection? I wonder if there are any others out there??

Simon Colebrooke March 26^th 2025.

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