The 2009 Christmas Diaries I

As the train left the centre of London behind I found myself engulfed in a British winter wonderland. The countryside actually looked rather idyllic clothed in white. The cottages and the rolling hills surrounding them reminded me of scenes from movies, all to rare in the real world. Snow doesn't usually settle in England, sure, there is usually a light snowfall one night close to New Year's Eve, but this was different. The coast of North Wales was considerably milder than the shocking cold London. I even went running with my brother yesterday, unsurprisingly not the most enjoyable experience ever - I felt like throwing up after the first hill... Oh, and on a lighter note - yesterday Fulham beat Manchester United, just thought I'd put that out there; now football results don't get much better than that.

Usually I spend my time at home in Wales lounging in bed engulfed in a novel, or staring at my computer screen; breakfast becomes a distant memory and 1 pm becomes the new 8 am. If I feel the need to eat more than one meal a day I'll have some ice cream or a couple of mince pies. Well, this Christmas that is all going to change (a pre-New Year resolution), not only has my brother decided to put me through a strict work-out regime; I have finals my first week back in January - and 3000 power point slides of notes to cover, in addition to the five last years worth of past papers. So, if I have to suffer - so should you. I'll be sharing some titbits of my studies in every blog this christmas, in addition to a very special christmas cliché.

One thing that has struck me this year is the extent to which science is dumbed down in order for students and other mere mortals to understand. I love the way atoms and molecules are personified and given titles such as chaperones. Humans seem to be the only things we can understand, so why try to pretend that everything is like us in order for us to understand. It's fair enough I guess, after all I do it myself all the time. In fear of boring my readers or indeed scaring you off after reading just one Christmas Chemistry Special, I have decided not to share the intricate delights of spectroscopy. Everyone loves histroy, hence the first Christmas Chemistry Special of 2009 is a brief insight into the scandalous history of modern science.

In 1904 the Austrian physicist Ludwig Boltzmann introduced the Boltzmann Distribution, which today is one of the cornerstones of understanding molecular systems. Many scientists refused to accept his work, however, and devoted their studies to disproving his theories. The attacks became so intense that in fear of his life's work collapsing on him Boltzmann comitted suicide just two years after publishing it; ironically his work was confirmed by experiment ahortly after his death.

Christmas Cliché I: Don't let any single thing become so important to you that if you loose it - you loose it all. (Don't put all your eggs in one basket)