Química Y Vida

Chemistry
and Life

United Nations
Educational, Scientific and
Cultural Organization,

The science and art of matter
JeanMarie Lehn
How it all started
Michal Meyer
I love laser
Tebello Nyokong
Pact against cancer
Anlong Xu
From dark to green ages
Jens Lubbadeh
Synthetic trees
Klaus Lackner
Letter to a young chemist
Akira Suzuki

Topics:
Like hooked atoms
RolfDieter HeuerTouki Bouki’s new life
Souleymane Cissé

Courier
THE UNESCO

January-March 2011

ISSN 2220-2285

Ole John Nielsen
Jes Andersen
(Denmark)

Klaus Lackner
Stephen Humphreys
(USA)

Jens Lubbadeh
Rolf-Dieter Heuer
(Germany)

Jean-Marie Lehn
(France)
Tayra Lanuza-Navarro
(Spain)

Marko Viskić
(Croatia)

Michal Meyer
(Israel)

Gabrielle Lorne
(Martinique - France)
AnaAlejandra Apaseo Alaniz
(Mexico)

Fatemeh Farjadian
(Iran)

Bhagwan Singh Chandravanshi
Shimalis Admassie
(Ethiopia)
Souleymane Cissé
(Mali)

Vanderlan da Silva Bolzani
(Brazil)

Anlong Xu
(China)
Akira Suzuki
Noriyuki Yoshida
(Japan)

Sunil Mani
Shiraz Sidhva
Somnath Das
(India)

Kufre Ite
(Nigeria)

Tebello Nyokong
(South Africa)

Vicki Gardiner
(Australia)OUR AUTHORS
Philip W. Boyd
(New Zealand)

IYC 2011
The International Year of Chemistry 2011 (IYC 2011)
was proclaimed by the United Nations General
Assembly following a proposal by Ethiopia. It aims
to celebrate the contributions made by chemistry to
the wellbeing of mankind. Under the banner of
“Chemistry: our life, our future”, the Year will
highlight the role that science is expectedto play in
such varied fields as health, food, the environment,
energy and transport. The Year is especially
addressed at youth and non-specialists, inviting

2 . THE UNESCO COURIER . JANUARYMARCH 2011

them to join in a whole range of interactive,
entertaining and educational events across the
world (www.chemistry2011.org/).
The year 2011 also marks the centenary of the
award of theNobel Prize for chemistry to Marie
Sklodowska-Curie and of the establishment, in Paris,
of the International Association of Chemistry
Societies, which changed its name in 1919 to the
International Union for Pure and Applied Chemistry
(IUPAC).
With its headquarters in Zurich (Switzerland),
IUPAC was founded by chemists from both
universities and industry, with the aim of
encouraginginternational cooperation in chemistry
and as a means to bridge the divide between
scientific research, industrial applications and the
public sector. It is because of IUPAC that chemists all
over the world share a common ‘language’, in terms
of nomenclature, symbols, terminology, standard
atomic weights, etc. Fifty-four National Adhering
Organizations and Associate National AdheringOrganizations are members.
UNESCO and IUPAC are jointly organizing IYC
2011, along with industrial partners. The
International Year of Chemistry 2011 will be
launched on 27 January 2011 at UNESCO
headquarters in Paris, with the participation of
several leading scientists and researchers.
© DR

Courier
T H E U N ES CO

United Nations
Educational, Scientific and
Cultural OrganizationJanuary-March 2011

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