Writing Science/Science Writing
Online
Blogging at Field of Science as The Culture of Chemistry
Media
• Coordinative bonding to carbon more nuanced than first thought,
interview with Kirsten Hall for Chemistry World.
• Unlocking the Mysteries of the Universe, interview with Ira Pastor
for ideaXme.
• Fueled By Climate Change, Hurricanes Are Causing Industrial
Accidents. Who's Liable?, NPR's Shortwave Podcast
• She left a can of dry shampoo in her car. It blasted a hole through the roof, interview with Lateshia Beachum for The Washington Post
• Contaminant found in marijuana vaping products linked to deadly lung illnesses, tests show, interview with Lene H. Sun for The Washington Post
• 150th Anniversary of the Periodic Table, radio interview with Roland Pease for Science in Action (BBC)
• Raw Water, interview with Lindsey Bever for The Washington Post
• Five Books: Chemistry, interview with Caspar Henderson
• The ‘extremely flammable’ chemical behind the fire in the flooded Texas plant, interview with Ben Guarino for The Washington Post
• What Does a Body Good?, radio interview with Bob Garfield at On the Media (APR/NPR)
• A modern twist to that old fashioned chemistry set, radio interview with Todd Bookman for The Pulse (WHYY/NPR)
Audiobooks
Great Catholic Scientists: Discoveries and Lives of Faith with Guy Consolmagno, S.J., Learn 25 (Also available on Audible)
Essays
Hearing Voices, Nature Chemistry, 13, 615–617 (2021)
Cabinet of curiosities, Nature Chemistry, 13, 294–295 (2021)
Poetic License, Nature Chemsitry, 13, 3-4 (2021)
"From Permission to Poise," L.M. Balbes and M.M. Francl, in Addressing the Gender Gap in Science, ed. S. Azad, ACS Symposium Series #1354, (2020)
Unit of Revolution, Nature Chemistry, 12, 879-880 (2020)
The invisible college, Nature Chemistry, 12, 582-583 (2020)
A chemist’s cup of tea, Nature Chemistry, 12, 319-320 (2020)
Postcards from the past, Nature Chemistry, 12, 1-3 (2020)
Sleeping with your Science, Nature Chemistry, 11, 863-864 (2019)
Double Vision, Nature Chemistry, 11, 596-598 (2019)
The Weight of Water, Nature Chemistry, 11, 284-285 (2019)
Isotopic Enrichment, Nature Chemistry, 11, 101-102 (2019)
Ephemeral Elements, Nature Chemistry, 11, 2-4 (2019)
It’s Alive, Nature Chemistry, 10, 993-994 (2018)
Talking to Pauling's ghost, Nature Chemistry, 10, 688-689 (2018)
Atomic women, Nature Chemistry, 10, 373-375 (2018)
Making molecular monsters, Nature Chemistry, 10, 1-2 (2018)
Identity crisis, Nature Chemistry, 9, 606 (2017)
It figures, Nature Chemistry, 9, 501 (2017)
Chemists boldly go, Nature Chemistry, 9, 4-5 (2017) with Michael J. Donnay
A brief history of water, Nature Chemistry, 8, 897–898 (2016)
Strangers to Fiction, Nature Chemistry, 8, 637-290 (2016)
Chemistry by degrees, Nature Chemistry, 8, 289-290 (2016)
Through the eyes of a chemist, Nature Chemistry, 8, 1-2 (2016)
Hunting up the ghosts of elements, UN Year of Light, October 2015
The enlightenment of chemistry, Nature Chemistry, 7, 761-762 (2015)
Clickbait Chemistry, C&E News, 10 August 2015
Chemical doublespeak, Nature Chemistry, 7, 533-534 (2015)
Scents and sensibility, Nature Chemistry, 7, 265-266 (2015)
Are Corporations Putting Feathers in Your Food? Slate Magazine, 18 February 2015
A molecule with a ring to it, Nature Chemistry, 7, 6-7 (2015)
Border Crossing, Chemical Heritage Magazine, Fall 2014/Winter 2015
Seeding crystallography, Nature Chemistry, 6, 842-844 (2014)
The write stuff, Nature Chemistry, 6, 555-556 (2014)
Attack of the clones, Nature Chemistry, 6, 267-268 (2014)
Laughing Matter, Nature Chemistry, 6, 1-2 (2014)
Take a number, Nature Chemistry, 5, 725-726 (2013)
How to counteract chemophobia, Nature Chemistry, 5, 439-440 (2013)
Felony Science, Slate, 3 May 2013
Tangible Assets, Nature Chemistry, 5, 147-148 (2013)
Don't take medical advice from the New York Times Magazine, Slate, 7 February 2013
Writing Bug, Chemical Heritage Magazine, Fall 2013/Winter 2013
Naming Names, Nature Chemistry, 4, 956-957 (2012)
Homemade Chemists, Nature Chemistry, 4, 687-688 (2012)
Chemical abstractions, Nature Chemistry, 4, 427-428 (2012)
Zen and the art of molecules, Nature Chemistry, 4, 142-144 (2012)
A quantum of history, Nature Chemistry, 3, 902-903 (2011)
Spellbound by books, Nature Chemistry, 3, 651-652 (2011)
Sex and the citadel of science, Nature Chemistry, 3, 670-673 (2011)
Neolexia, Nature Chemistry, 3, 417-418 (2011)
Blogging on the sidelines, Nature Chemistry, 3, 183-184 (2011)
Selling science, Nature Chemistry, 2, 999-1000 (2010)
Urban legends of chemistry, Nature Chemistry, 2, 600-601 (2010)
Staging science, Nature Chemistry, 2, 338-339 (2010)
Pressure to Preserve, in Open Laboratory 2009, B. Zivkovic and Scicurious, eds., 2010
Men of mystery, Nature Chemistry, 2, 68-70 (2010)
Back to basics, Nature Chemistry, 1, 681 (2009)
Mapping the two cultures, Nature Chemistry, 1, 591-592 (2009)
Stretching topology, Nature Chemistry, 1, 334-335 (2009)
Table manners, Nature Chemistry, 1, 97-98 (2009)
Elemental MoThEr. in Parenting and Professing: Balancing Family Work with an Academic Career, ed. Rachel Hile-Basset, Vanderbilt University Press, June 2005
Books
Contributed six entries to Oxford Companion to Sweets, D. Goldstein, ed., Oxford University Press, 2015: Starch, Colorings, Sugar of Lead, Biochemistry of Sugar, Yeast, Chemical Leaveners
Contributor to ACS Physical Chemistry Examination Study Guide, 2010, ACS Examinations Institute
A Survival Guide for Physical Chemistry, M.M. Francl, Physics Curriculum & Instruction Press, 2001
Other Media
Introduction to Quantum Chemistry (podcast)
Introduction to Quantum Chemistry (video casts and summaries of lectures)