Go Chemistry
In case you didn't hear, 2011 is the international year of chemistry. As far as I can tell, this is in fact a big deal. But I want to issue a sort of challenge about this, because the event is marked primarily as a celebration and I think celebration falls short.
Nobody will look back and say 'Wow, 2011 truly was the year of chemistry' if all we do is throw parties, do magic shows, and proclaim from the hills how amazing this craft is. True, we fervently wish we could immerse the broader public in the knowledge of how deeply their daily wonders are the result of beautiful chemistry.
But if we want people to remember 2011 for chemistry, then we will have to do something truly spectacular. And that's where it gets a little interesting: 2011 could be scooped by the physicists who might find the Higgs boson at the Large Hadron Collider. Let's be honest - that could rain on the parade a little, even if that would be a victory to be shared across many sciences. Never, ever count out the biologists and their gift for insight into that which we prize most: life. And what about geologists? It may be that 2011 gets dominated by the ever increasing spectre of global climate change and is remembered for any number of meteorological tragedies and transformations. And then all these myriad space probes might claim the spotlight - what if 2011 is the year of first contact?
Chemists - I assume we asked for this, campaigned for this, fought for this. It's true that maybe all we want is the the PR opportunity to help folks have more positive associations with the 'c' word. I'd rather not cringe every time I confess to a doctor that I teach chemistry (response: "oh, I HATED chemistry when I was doing my premeds...") Is that all we want though? I don't think so.