[Mitch]

Nothing is more annoying then people coming up to me and saying or mentioning they are a physical chemist and thinking physical chemistry is the savior of the bastardized field of chemistry. This happens to me disproportionately since I'm technically a physical chemistry graduate student at Berkeley. Meaning, I've passed my qualifying exam within the Chem department's physical chemistry division. I don't have anything against physical chemists, just chemical discipline prejudice in general. If any of us ran into an arrogant total synthesis chemist (there are many of those) we would be annoyed as well.

I wear the title of Chemist as a badge of honor, but don't start trying to box me into one of the little cookie cutter chemistry niches. If I'm forced to identify to a sub-discipline, I'll hold claim to being a nuclear chemist, but I would also claim to be a synthetic and hold interest in chemical education (see this website for the depth of my interests in that last field).

You can express yourself by voting in a poll I've started in this thread: What kind of Chemist are you? You'll have to register though.

In the end, I would join which ever chemistry sub-discipline Corina Weston would of went into if she pursued chemistry past college.
It couldn't be that bad with her in it!

This whole business came to mind after reading the rants posted on TheChemBlog about the Chemistry 2006 prize going to a molecular biologist.

Mitch

[billnotgatez]

Citizen Scientist

[Albert]

A PhD in Prof. Corina Weston's group looks stimulating, doesn't it? 

[Donaldson Tan]

Do you know the supermodel Cindy Crawford studied Chemical Engineering?

In fact, she graduated from high school as valedictorian with a 4.0 GPA and won an academic scholarship to study chemical engineering at Northwestern University.

[P]

My degree was in Chemical Physics!!   -  There isn't a Chemical Physicists box to tick!   Tch!         

PS - have you got any 'interesting' links involving that young lady to hand??           

[Mitch]

Physical is what you would tick for chemical physics.

[Albert]

have you got any 'interesting' links involving that young lady to hand??           

Google will take you to nice places...

[P]

Physical is what you would tick for chemical physics.

No no no..  not the same thing at all  -   physical chemistry looks at rates of reaction, electro chemistry etc etc... and does indeed fall under the blanket of chem phys.  However, chem phys is much broader and deals with quantum mechanics, thermodynamics, materials, electronics and circuits  (i.e.all areas where chemistry and physics overlap - like spectroscopic methods etc.)

therefore: phys chem is a subset of chem phys, but not the other way arround.

have you got any 'interesting' links involving that young lady to hand??           

Google will take you to nice places...

Tee Hee -  yea I know, but my home PC is not online anymore  -  I can't really use the one at work for that.   

[Mitch]

No no no..  not the same thing at all  -   physical chemistry looks at rates of reaction, electro chemistry etc etc... and does indeed fall under the blanket of chem phys.  However, chem phys is much broader and deals with quantum mechanics, thermodynamics, materials, electronics and circuits  (i.e.all areas where chemistry and physics overlap - like spectroscopic methods etc.)

Physical chemistry deals with all topics you listed above.