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Peter Atkins was educated at the University
of Leicester, where he did his Ph.D., and was a Harkness Fellow
of the Commonwealth Fund at the University of California, Los
Angeles. He went to Oxford in 1965 as University Lecturer in
Physical Chemistry and fellow of Lincoln College; he is now
Professor of Chemistry. He has been a visiting professor in
universities in China, France, Israel, Japan, New Zealand, and
at the University of Sheffield. Awards include the Meldola Medal
of the Royal Society of Chemistry, honorary doctorates from
Utrecht University and Leicester University, and the Nyholm
Lectureship of the Royal Society of Chemistry.
Professor Atkins’ research interests were theoretical
chemistry and quantum mechanics. However, he now spends most
of his time writing books, which now number about 50. They
range from college textbooks (such as General Chemistry; Physical
Chemistry; Inorganic Chemistry; Molecular Quantum Mechanics,
etc) to books on science (particularly chemistry) for general
audiences (such as Molecules; The Second Law; The Periodic
Kingdom, and Creation Revisited. He has recently published
Galileo’s Finger: The ten great ideas of science, in
which he identifies his choice of the best ideas that science
has produced. He has taken part in many public debates on
the conflict of science and religion, arguing in favour of
science.
Professor Atkins is Chairperson of the IUPAC Committee on Chemistry
Education, which aims to improve chemical education worldwide
and to coordinate international activities relating to the
public appreciation of science, a member of the Council of
the Royal Institution, Chairperson of the Royal Society of Chemistry’s
IUPAC Committee, a member of its International Affairs Advisory
Group, and a member of a number of committees concerned with
science education and public understanding.
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