Personal Chemistry: Chris
Hill
Vice President, Research, Organon
 Why
did you join SCI?
I was invited to join the Young Chemists’ Panel at its
inception. It seemed an ideal way to meet other professional
chemists and get involved in organising symposia in my areas
of interest. I have thoroughly enjoyed the interactions with
colleagues at SCI and have remained a Member of the Fine Chemicals
Group committee ever since.
What is the best website you visited lately?
The Motley Fool at www.fool.com
What is your favourite holiday destination?
I have no particular favourite destination. I prefer holidays
with lots of sunshine and with plenty of things to do that
the whole family can enjoy together.
What would you like to have invented?
Velcro; not for what it is, but for what it represents.
The discovery of Velcro epitomises high quality observational
science combined with an opportunistic mind. Many scientific
discoveries and inventions have been made in this way, but
the Velcro story illustrates how one can make a simple
observation in nature and apply the same underlying principles
to produce a product that has a huge impact on our everyday
lives. The simplicity of the concept is beautiful and, importantly,
can be communicated easily to non-scientists.
Who is your hero/heroine?
As a synthetic chemist by training I was always amazed by
the complexity of natural products that were synthesised before
the era of modern spectrometric techniques. Robert Burns Woodward
was arguably the greatest exponent of synthetic chemistry
in his time and achieved some incredible synthetic feats.
It was one of my greatest disappointments not to have seen
him lecture.
Which book would you recommend as a ‘must read’?
I think that we struggle to communicate our science to broad
audiences effectively, so it is always interesting to learn
from others. I recently enjoyed reading Bill Bryson’s
A short history of nearly everything. Bryson captures
the human side of science and cleverly uses this to engage
the reader with the scientific principles covered.
What is your motto in life?
Do what you enjoy and enjoy what you do!
With whom would you most like to spend an evening in serious
discussion?
There are so many to choose from and I’m tempted to select
a scientist. On balance, however, I would choose someone like
John Arlott, the former radio commentator, poet and author.
Why? Not only because we share a common love of cricket and
wine, but also because of his philosophy of life and unparalleled
descriptive powers. I will always remember him as the ‘voice
of summer’.
What is the best advice you have ever received?
Just do it!
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