Welcome To Our Year In Review Issue

As a news-gathering organization, C&EN and its staff are constantly caught up in the deadlines of the day and week. This is our job, and it’s how we bring you the news of the chemical world. But every year, as the year draws to a close, we take the opportunity to reflect on the stories we’ve covered over the previous 12 months. This allows us to spot trends and generate ideas for the following year, but it’s also an opportunity to celebrate the biggest, most impactful advances and developments.

Our Year in Review started a decade ago with a Science Year in Review, but because of its popularity we have expanded and evolved it into what you see in this issue. Picking a few dozen noteworthy advances and news events out of the hundreds covered in the pages of C&EN over the course of a year is no small task. The selection process is quite lengthy, and it involves the editors and writers going over a year’s worth of content for their respective sections, picking their best stories, and then pitching them to the rest of the group. What you see here in Year in Review reflects the consensus of the editorial team.

To whet your appetite, I can tell you that we go back over the Ebola crisis, the first molecule with an atom in the +9 oxidation state, the debate over the use of neonicotinoids, the destruction of Syria’s chemical weapons, the promise perovskites bring to solar cells, and the chemical leak in West Virginia. Also, don’t miss our Quotes & Photos spread on pages 36 and 37. I think it looks great, and my favorite quote is by Marshall D. Gates, assistant editor of the Journal of the American Chemical Society, from a 1952 communication to Robert Burns Woodward about Woodward’s proposed structure of ferrocene. It’ll bring a smile to your face. And to round out this annual retrospective, starting on page 38, our reporters revisit some of the scientific advances that we highlighted a decade ago, in our 2004 Year in Review.

Not only the volume and nature of the content but also the way we present the section has evolved over time. All the Year in Review articles (and more!) are also featured in a microsite that we have designed to host this special feature (http://2014.cenmag.org).

So what do you think of our Year in Review? Were these your highlights of 2014 too? Let us know.

Additionally, as this is our last issue of 2014, we wanted to have a bit of fun and get in the mood for the holiday season. Carmen Drahl brings plenty of festive cheer in a very special (her last!) holiday episode of “Speaking of Chemistry” where she talks about tinsel’s chemistry history. You can watch it at http://cenm.ag/tinsel.

For those with a competitive streak, we are also running our first ever “Year in Chemistry” quiz. It consists of 12 multiple-choice questions to test your knowledge about 2014 chemistry news. When you’ve finished the quiz, you’ll be able to compare your score with that of C&EN Editor-at-Large Rudy Baum, as well as that of ACS Central Science Editor-in-Chief Carolyn Bertozzi. You also have the option of entering your e-mail for a chance to win a “science tools” pint glass or our grand prize, a periodic table cutting board. Take the quiz now and prove that from the nano to the macro, from the fume hood to Capitol Hill, you know everything there is to know about the world of chemistry.

The quiz can be found at http://cenm.ag/2014quiz; it is open until Jan. 26. Prize winners will be announced in the Feb. 9 issue of C&EN. Good luck!

We sincerely hope you enjoy what we have prepared for you. The team and I would like to wish you very happy holidays and a prosperous and healthy new year. See you in 2015.