What Is Chemistry?

 At age 15, as is the tradition in England, I approached the deadline at my school for having to choose between the arts and humanities versus the sciences for my studies in my final two years before university. To assist pupils in making this clearly important choice, my school held a teachers–parents evening. It was a special evening because it was a chance for parents and children together to meet the school’s careers adviser. By this time, we had already had school visits to learn about our job prospects, including going down the local coal mine and seeing the production line at the local shirt factory. These visits didn’t match my hopes for continuing my learning. The school’s careers adviser, Mr Taylor, had been the school’s chemistry teacher but changed roles late in his teaching career. He asked me about my plans. I said I was thinking of going further with my studies and choosing history, geography and mathematics, which were my best subjects in terms of exam grades thus far. He said that it would be better if I included chemistry in my choices as chemistry was better for job opportunities. So, in this context, ‘What is chemistry?’ can be described as the subject with the best job opportunities! In the end I did select chemistry, along with mathematics and physics, to study in my last two years of school.