Maltese entrant wins chemistry competition

Tessa Fiorini, a former student of the University of Malta and currently working as a casual teaching assistant in the Departments of Chemistry and Built Heritage, won the international Chemistry World Science Communication Competition, organised by the UK's Royal Society of Chemistry.

Now in its second edition, the competition attracted almost 100 entries from every corner of the world, with the quality of the entries being described as outstanding.

The theme of the competition was 'openness in science'. Ms Fiorini’s entry was entitled 'Connecting the Dots; The Birth of Modern Chemistry through Openness'. It is based on Antoine Lavoisier, who lived in the eighteenth century and is considered to be the father of modern chemistry. This is mainly because he debunked a false, but predominant theory at the time known as phlogiston and replaced it with oxygen theory.

However, Lavoisier did not debunk phlogiston all by himself. Ms Fiorini’s article shows that he actually connected the dots between the experiments of others, who were too blinded by phlogiston theory to interpret their own discoveries correctly. 

Lavoisier could connect the dots between these experiments because scientific communication at the time was very open and he was therefore abreast of all the latest discoveries. He also had an open mind that wasn't blinded by phlogiston. It is this crucial combination of two facets of openness that led to the birth of modern chemistry. However, this combination is just as relevant today as it was in Lavoisier's time, as scientific progress has always, and will always require these two facets of openness. This is the main message of Fiorini’s article.

The competition involved a written entry and a pitch to a large audience of academics, press and industry representatives. The full article is to be published in the May edition of Chemistry World.