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You're surrounded by molecules. Small molecules—your ethanols, your methanes, your H2Os. But also big ones—the polymers, long chains of carbons and nitrogens and oxygens all strung together in impossibly complex combinations and orientations. If you're a chemist, you see those molecules in everything, whether or not you actually see them: in the smell of pine trees and the feel of conditioner on your hair and the whiff of leather in a new car.
If you're a non-chemist, you can still see those molecules. But not in some Beautiful Mind-like overlay of the world's atoms and bonds—more like in difficult-to-pronounce, multisyllabic words on nutrition facts labels and ingredients lists that may or may not give you PTSD from that one semester of organic chemistry. If you've ever wondered just what the hell stearoxytrimethylsilane is and what exactly it's doing in your face wash, these sources are here to help.
Follow Compound Interest on Twitter
Andy Brunning is a chemistry teacher in England who one day thought that the posters in his classroom were kinda bleck. So he started making his own—bright, well-organized designs that explain the molecules behind everyday things, whether it's the smell of books (new and old) or highlighter colors (colours for you Brits) or the soothing powers of throat lozenges. Seriously, if you've ever had a question about why something smells a certain way or produces color or does something weird to your body, search his repository of infographics and you'll probably find an answer. Brunning has collected enough molecules in his vast library that they'll soon be wrapped up into a book, Why Does Asparagus Make Your Wee Smell?
Follow the Point of Interest blog
This site is more toward the DIY end of the spectrum than I'd usually recommend when it comes to chemistry, but Susan Barclay-Nichols keeps her molecular knowledge strongly focused on the non-blowy-uppy kind: cosmetic chemistry. If you're at all interested in making your own personal care products, she does an amazing job explaining how the different ingredients work—from broad classes like surfactants, emollients, and emulsifiers down to the nitty-gritty specifics of molecules like acyl-amino acid salts and caprylyl glucoside. It's also a great resource to understand just how all those multi-syllabic words on your shampoo work together to make foamy goodness.
Follow What's Inside on WIRED
Yes, yes, self-promotion alert. But WIRED has been devoted to breaking down the stuff in your stuff for a long time. Contributor Patrick Di Justo put out a book, This Is What You Just Put in Your Mouth?, collecting his greatest hits from the column. And it continues today, with installments digging into fireworks, flu vaccines, sriracha and more. There's even a – video series, narrated by a British person so you know they're super smart. It's a chemistry franchise, guys.
Follow Science and Food on Tumblr
Knowledge of chemistry is important. Knowledge of chemistry in the food you eat, well now that's essential. Dietician Eve Lahijani runs this blog, which has a great feature called Flavor of the Month, describing the molecules that go into the tastes and colors of processed (and some natural) foods. The latest? The chemistry of cotton candy, which owes its flavor to vanillin, ethyl vanillin, and ethyl maltol—along with lots and lots of sugar. The posts get into the structures as well as the names of these compounds, describing how sucrose molecules break out of their ordered crystalline structures to form messy, delicious sugar wool.
Follow Molecule of the Week on Twitter
This one's for people who want extra credit. Every week, the American Chemical Society poses a teaser on its website, asking readers to guess what molecule it's describing (the Twitter account's a little less regular in its posts). This week's question: "You will enjoy me this Labor Day. What molecule am I?" I won't leave you hanging: It's syringol, a component of wood and charcoal smoke. The more you know!
