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Michelle Francl suggests that chemists should relax and not fret over ambiguous language.

Michelle Francl wonders if there is a risk to making yourself at home in the lab.

Did meteorites fall between the interdisciplinary cracks? Michelle Francl tells the nineteenth-century tale of the extraterrestrial origin of meteorites and suggests that there are lessons for those studying topics that involve multiple disciplines today.

Michelle Francl looks at chemistry in a new light.

Michelle Francl wonders what it is that makes a molecule elegant.

Michelle Francl reminds us that you don't need to look like Einstein to be a scientist.

Back-of-the-envelope calculations are an important part of chemistry argues Michelle Francl.

Michelle Francl explores how glass revolutionized chemistry.

Michelle Francl dips into the science of making tea.

Using a slide rule showed Michelle Francl where chemists' calculations are still stuck in the past.

The acknowledgements sections of papers are used formally to recognize those who have contributed to an article but are not authors. Michelle Francl suggests that they can be more than that — they can say more than thank you and can flesh out a story.

Michelle Francl wonders why people almost inevitably draw scientists as men with weird hair and glasses, and why there is no such thing as a 'draw a lawyer' test.

Michelle Francl takes a serious look at whether we should indulge in scientific humour.

Michael Donnay and Michelle Francl want chemists to share the stories behind the work they do, and not be afraid to identify the heroines and heroes — and their epic adventures — that paved the way.

Chemists have stretched the meaning of topology to cover situations never imagined by their mathematical colleagues. Michelle Francl wonders if we have reached breaking point?

It is easy to overlook just how important temperature is when it comes to chemistry and Michelle Francl wonders if thermometers had a role in turning alchemists into chemists.

Michelle Francl wonders just what we're buying — and buying into — when we shop for our laboratories.

Michelle Francl wonders what abstract objects might be lurking in our beakers.

Michelle Francl explores the concepts that could help non-chemists see the world more like those trained in the subject.

There are many different versions of the periodic table, but one among them reigns supreme. Michelle Francl ponders on why chemists put elements in boxes.

Michelle Francl wants a chemistry book that could conjure up Linus Pauling.

Before the internet, chemists used references books to find necessary information. Michelle Francl takes us on a journey through the weird and wondrous world captured in the most famous reference book of them all, known to some as the ‘Rubber Bible’.

Large language models such as ChatGPT have been predicted to lighten the load for some workers but make some roles obsolete. Michelle Francl explores what they can do for chemistry professors.

Michelle Francl considers the long-lost art of the reprint card and the debate that once raged about its use and misuse.

Given the fraught history of fluorine, Michelle Francl wonders what made medicinal chemists consider fluorine derivatives?

Teaching the history of science along with the science itself can give students greater context about the topic they are learning and a wider perspective on how it has developed. Michelle Francl, who has wrestled with how much time to spend on teaching history in the chemistry classroom for years, considers how unconventional histories can shift the curriculum.

Michelle Francl reminds #ChemistsWhoCook to look at the chemistry behind the cooking.

Michelle Francl wonders if it is time to rethink the naming of units.

Michelle Francl worries about the long-term effects of playing by pandemic rules.

Michelle Francl wonders what the future will think of her office.

Ellis McCarver and Michelle Francl want to turn up the volume of the voices of marginalized chemists.

Michelle Francl suggests that we should expand our view of the periodic table to new dimensions.

Michelle Francl considers how metaphor breathes life into chemistry.

To appreciate women’s contribution to science, Michelle Francl suggests it’s time to stop talking about the most famous one.

We should do less staged science and more science on stage, suggests Michelle Francl.

Michelle Francl wonders just how old the water in her tea is.

Michelle Francl argues we should embrace molecular models, not tuck them away in the closet.

Michelle Francl explores how chemists put line structures to work.

Michelle Francl wonders if scientists ought to pen poetry.

Weighing up whether or not to drink heavy water, Michelle Francl plunges into its history.

Michelle Francl muses on fantastic beasts of chemistry and why we try to find them.

Michelle Francl dusts off Pauling’s notes on bonding to explore the illusory link between electron promotion and hybridization.

Michelle Francl wonders if a molecule can be just a little bit chiral?

Michelle Francl wonders if more chemists should be reading science fiction on the job.

Bloggers shouldn't be relegated to the sidelines of the scientific literature, argues Michelle Francl.

Michelle Francl wonders if home labs make (better) chemists.

Michelle Francl suggests that chemists should keep on name-dropping.

Michelle Francl wonders what makes benzene resonate with chemists.

Michelle Francl reminds us that even a rigorous scientific discipline such as chemistry has its own myths and legends — and explains why this isn't such a bad thing.

Michelle Francl wonders if the harem effect in crystallography is overrated.