Chemophilia

A couple of weeks ago, I posted about Chemophobia, the irrational fear of chemicals (and possibly chemists too, I suppose). Now I’d like to talk about the opposite extreme, Chemophilia, which I define as a non-chemist’s desire to be a chemist. Let’s face it -- who wouldn’t want to be a chemist? One of the simplest methods for fulfilling those types of dreams is by the practice of chemical collecting. I recently read an article about a doctor in Ohio (recently deceased) who had been collecting chemicals in his garage as a hobby. His daughter was totally unaware of this hobby until she found the chemicals and decided to call the fire department, resulting in significant media attention. Element collecting is not an uncommon hobby, and there are plenty of websites devoted to the practice. Here is one example. (I collect elements myself, but then I’m a chemist.) More surprisingly, there are web sites and organizations devoted to the practice of performing chemistry experiments at home. Not just simple experiments with pretty color changes, but major synthetic procedures. Some of these web sites let you order chemicals and chemical equipment, while some will tell you how to obtain the chemicals on your own. There are discussion groups which give step by step instruction for the synthesis of various compounds – some of them rather hazardous. Sciencemadness is one such site, but there are lots more. Since I’ve been toying with the idea of trying some simple experiments at home, I’m glad there are sources like this available. But it worries me when I think about non-chemists attempting some of the procedures I’ve seen online.