The Journal of Chemical Education, published by the American Chemical Society, selects my paper “Visualizing Chemistry with Infrared Imaging” as the cover article on the July 2011 issue. The IR experiments presented in the paper were described as “captivating, intriguing, and thought-provoking.”

Scientists have long relied on powerful imaging techniques to see things invisible to the naked eye and thus advance science. IR imaging is one of the few scientific imaging tools that can be easily used by anyone without complicated setup and calibration. And the price for an affordable IR camera has recently fallen below $900. This is a truly transformative tool that will empower students to learn and discover deep science from everyday life. I have shown many examples in this blog.

Every time I did some experiments with this wonderful tool, there was always something that surprised me. Even a humble leaf from a plant in my office shows a lot of things I don’t really have a clue (I will blog more about biological applications later). Being a scientist, I intuitively feel that some of the surprises are not simple at all. Behind them there is very deep science that might have never been discovered before. It is a lot of fun to “crack” the scientific secrets in these surprises.

I hope every student would have the same opportunity to have fun with science as I have. Discovery should be an important part of science in schools.