Street Scene Essay Example for Free

Street Scene Essay In the painting Street Scene, Pink Sky, Paris, there are several elements that make the painting a unique piece of art reflecting the contemporary feeling of the expressionistic and post impressionistic movements of the early twentieth century. James Wilson Morrice expresses these movements completely in this painting, which is a masterwork of form, color and balance. In this painting, the first thing the eye goes to s the upper right hand part of the painting. Here there is a series of four buildings that are well lit and in shades of yellow and gold. The roofs are in shades of charcoal and burnt umber. One notices that the buildings grow progressively smaller as thy move down the street. Next, you notice the people. There appear to be three women and a man. The man appears all in black, black overcoat and black hat. Next to him, facing him is a woman in a red dress and hat in brown and umber. She is wearing gloves. One’s eyes then drift to the front left of the painting where the other two women are walking by the cafe. One appears to have brown hair and be wearing a white dress with a matching white hat. The hat has a pink flower on it. The woman next to her, to her left, is wearing a dress of yellow-brown, and a black hat. She also has brown hair. To the extreme left, there is another building that appears to be a series of shops. This building has a dilapidated feel to it and is not as brightly lit as the buildings across the street. It presents a very stark contrast. The eyes then drift to the sky. It is a cacophony of steely blues and pinky mauves. It looks like an evening storm sky, but it is just the settling dusk. One can feel the hurry of the people to get home after a day of social gatherings or work. Finally, one gets to the bottom of the painting. Here one sees the edge of tables and chairs as one sits and contemplates as the world goes by. It is at if the viewer is at a cross street. Looking down one street as they watch people pass by on another. That brings the viewer to another element of the painting—mainly, the street. It is vacant save for the people. There is not a carriage, horse, car, or anything on the street. Everyone is on foot. Though they are walking, there is no sense of urgency in their movements. It is as if everyone is out for a Sunday stroll and the viewer is there watching as they drink their coffee and eat their croissant. This feels like a fairly typical street scene. The final element of the painting is just to the left of center. It is a cluster of trees and shrubbery. It ties the light and dark elements of the painting together, as the trees have dark greens and blacks combine with light greens and yellow-greens to make a unifying element that brings all the elements together. The elements are arranged as if one is looking on a street and down a street at the same time. It is almost like a â€Å"T† intersection. The paining has a balance to it that takes the shape of a triangle. The lighter shaded elements are on the right side, and the darker shaded elements are on the left side. The browns, creams, umbers, and ocher colors confine themselves to the left. The golds reds, and blacks confine themselves to the right. The trees tie the light and dark elements together and blend them into a coherent style and picture of everyday life on a Paris street. The trees also provide a much needed balance. If it were not for the trees, there would be a harshness to the painting that would make it unbalanced and off-center. Morrice picks mostly muted shades for his painting, even the ocres and golds have a slightly muted quality about them. The colors blend one into another, giving the painting a much needed fluidity. Morrice also arranges his larger elements to the back of the painting, forcing your eyes into the aforementioned triangle of the sky and the people. These are his main elements, and the ones your eyes go to after the brightness of the building. He wants the viewer to see the sky and the people and see both as time stopped, a moment that is captured forever. As mentioned before, the people are unhurried, and the sky is unhurried, which are the two elements that are the most important in this picture. Stylistically, the painting is a wonderful example of twentieth century post-impressionism. While it lacks the subtlety of Monet, it generates the same feelings that the impressionists do—that is the sense that you are there, leaving you to interpret the details. That is the very nature of impressionism. The viewer is given an idea, and they have to fill in the details. Post-impressionism at its soul is a revamping of the style without the subtle colors. Where Monet used pales and shades to make his point, Morrice uses muted bolds to bring the viewer to the scene. There is more a sense of making the impression more realistic instead of making it stylistic. This generates the move to the more bold moves of Picasso and his followers. Morrice’s work is in the vein of Cezanne. The use of color and element is similar in form and function, and the overall sense of the move to realism is there. Cezanne and Morrice both fit into the same mold, simply because they are both scene painters that use people as a focal point. The main difference is that Cezanne tends to use darker colors while Morrice uses brighter tones. They both tend to mute their tones, though Cezanne tends to do it more effectively than Morrice. Morrice borrows heavily from Cezanne. He uses blocks of color and focuses on sky, and the traditional views of the plane of the painting become obsolete. Additionally, the conventions between foreground and background begin to become ambiguous. There is also a spatial ambiguity to the painting, as the sky becomes a patchwork of color, flowing seamlessly one into another. Even in the two women walking down the street seem to blend into each other, the only differences seem to be in the distinction of their faces. The woman in brown seems to almost blend into the shops in the background. The woman in white appears to blend seamlessly into the scene. Faces are the only distinctions between people and background. There is only a bit of street and the black hat and face that even distinguishes her as an individual. The blocks of yellow are the only things that distinguish that there are four buildings. This is very much in the style of Cezanne. Even the trees and shrubbery seem to be in a block of color. Though the greens, blacks, and yellow-greens seem to blend, the eye can easily pick out the distinct shades and can see the summer look of the trees against the dusky sky. Looking at the style of both Morrice and Cezanne, one sees incredible talent and gracious style. The overall impressionistic feel that we get from both painters is evident. As both move towards the twentieth century, there is a shift from the previous impressionistic movement to the post impressionistic movement. The movement also shifts to the use of color in blocks to give movement and a sense of fluidity to the painting. Additionally, the focus on sky and people shows a movement away from the still lives and landscapes of the past to a movement of expressing people as the object and main idea of the painting. Thought the movement was not a long-lasting one, it left an impression on the art world that has affected painters and artists for years. The use of texture and color and form and function blend together flawlessly to create a new and exciting use of elements that added to the art world and still give us much to talk about today. The fact that we are able to draw comparisons to the present and the past shows us the relevance of the new art forms and how they still relate to today’s art world. We as art historians cannot forget the contributions of the past as they will and do affect our futures. References Adams, L (1997). A history of western art. Madison, WI: Brown and Benchmark. Art Gallery of Ontario, (2009). James Wilson Morrice, Street Scene, Pink Sky, Paris. Retrieved March 15, 2009, from Art Gallery of Ontario Web site: http://www. ago. net/ago103760 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, (2009). Art History. Retrieved March 15, 2009, from Art History Web site: http://www. unc. edu/depts/wcwebs/handouts/arthistory. html

Comparing Women in Raisin In the Sun, House On Mango Street, and Yellow

Roles of Women in A Raisin In the Sun, The House On Mango Street, and A Yellow Raft In Blue Water      Ã‚  Ã‚   A Raisin In the Sun, The House On Mango Street, and A Yellow Raft In Blue Water all contain strong, defined images of women. These women control and are controlled. They are oppressed and liberated. Standing tall, they are confident and independent. Hunched low, they are vulnerable and insecure. They are grandmothers, aunts, mothers, wives, lovers, friends, sisters and children. Although they span a wide range of years and roles, a common thread is woven through all of their lives, a thread which confronts them day in and day out. This thread is the challenge they face as minority women in America to find liberation and freedom from lives loaded down with bondage. These women fight to live and in their living they display their strengths and their weaknesses. They demonstrate the opposition many women face being viewed as the inferior sex as well as discrimination against their ethnicity. In this struggle Hansberry, Dorris and Cisneros depict women attempting to find con fidence and security in the society around them. Comparing and contrasting the novels A Raisin In the Sun, The House On Mango Street, and A Yellow Raft In Blue Water, three principal images of women emerge: their strength, bondage and liberation. These images combine to depict the struggle of many minority women, regardless of their ethnic background, and shapes the character they draw from society.    "Now--you say after me, in my mother's house there is still God...There are some ideas we ain't going to have in this house. Not long as I am at the head of this family" (Hansberry 51). From Mama's ardent statement in A Raisin In the Sun, addressed to ... ... in the past has held them down. Finding strength in this new liberation they will be released to assist others in gaining their freedom and becoming whole individuals. We take courage and inspiration from the lives of Beneatha, Esperanza, Mama, Evelyn, Rayona and others as they display the struggle toward true womanhood and the strength to "come back. For the ones who cannot leave as easily as you" (Cisneros 105).    Works Cited: Blicksilver, Edith. The Ethnic American Woman. Kenall/Hunt Publishing; Iowa, 1978. Cisneros, Sandra. The House on Mango Street. New York: Vintage Books, 1991. Dorris, Michael. Yellow Raft on Blue Water. New York: H. Holt, 1987. Hansberry, Lorraine. A Raisin in the Sun. Literature and Its Writers: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. Eds. Ann Charters and Samuel Charters. Boston: Bedford Books, 1997. 1829-96.

Water and Acetic Acid

Do the following problems in your lab notebook. Be sure to specify the knowns & unknowns, the formulas used, show your work with labeled units and round you’re answers to the appropriate significant figures. 15-1 Molarity Problems: (M = moles/ liter ) 1. What is the molar concentration of a 415 ml solution containing 0. 745 moles of HCl? (A: 1. 80 M HCl) 2. What is the molar concentration of an acetic acid (CH3COOH) solution containing 3. 21 moles in 4. 50 liters? (A: 0. 713 M) 3. How many moles of KI are present in 125 ml of 0. 500 M KI? (A: 0. 0625 mol KI) 4. How many moles of ammonia (NH3) are present in . 360 L of 2. 3 M NH3 solution in water? (A: 0. 767 mol NH3) 5. How many liters of water are required to prepare a solution of 7. 25 M MgCl2 from 4. 89 moles of MgCl2? (A: 0. 674 L) 6. What is the molarity of a solution prepared by adding 58. 5 g of NaCl to 230 ml of H2O?(A: 4. 3 M NaCl) 7. What is the molarity of a KNO3 solution prepared by adding 151. 5g of KNO3 to 300ml of H2O? (A: 5. 00 M KNO3) 8. How many grams of NaOH are required to prepare 2. 0 liters of 2. 5 M NaOH solution in water? (A: 200g NaOH) 9. What is the molarity of a soltuion prepared by dissolving 5. 68 g of NaOH in enough water to make 400. ml of solution? (A: 0. 55M) 10. If a 2. 34 g sample of dry ice, CO2, is dropped into a sealed 500 ml bottle of orange cool aid, and the CO2 gas released dissolves virtually completely in the cool-aid, what is the approximate concentration of CO2 in the now carbonated cool aid? (A: 0. 1 M) 11. How many grams of HCl are required to prepare 250 ml of a 0. 158M solution? (A: 1. 5g) 12. Vinegar is a solution of acetic acid. What is the molarity of the solution produced when 125g of acetic acid (C2H4O2) is dissolved in sufficient water to prepare 1. 50 L of solution? (A: 1. 39M)13. How many grams of bromine, Br2, are needed to prepare 0. 500 L of a 0. 100M solution in water? (A: 0. 799g) Lab Prep: Calculate the number of grams of Ni(NO3)2*6H2O requir ed to mix up 50. 0 ml of 0. 40 M. (Hint: The gram formula mass of Ni(NO3)2*6H2O is ) 15-2 Dilution Problems: M1V1 = M2V2, V2 is the TOTAL volume after dilution) 1. What is the molarity of the new solution when 500 ml of H20 are added to 500 ml of 1. 0M HNO3? (A: 0. 5 M HNO3) 2. What is the molarity of the new solution when 200 ml of 10. 5M HCl is diluted with water to a total of 1 liter? (A: 2. 1 M HCl) 3. If you want to mix up a total volume of 2. 0 L of 3. 5 M NaCl, what volume of 5. 0 M NaCl should you start with? A: 1. 4 L)4. A 52ml of sodium cyanide poison leaked from a bottle into a bucket of water that originally contained 427 ml of water. The concentration of poison in the bucket was found to be 0. 85 M after the leak. What must be the concentration of the poison in the leaky bottle? (A: 7. 8M) 5. How much water will one need to add to dilute 100 ml of 10 % SDS to 1 % SDS? (A: 900 ml H2O) 6. If you dilute 25 ml of 4. 0 % CaCl2 to a total of 100ml what is the final concentrat ion? (A: 1. 0 % CaCl2)Lab Prep: Calculate the volume of 0. 40 M Ni(NO3)2 needed to prepare 10. 0 ml of each of the following diluted solutions: . 0. 080 M b. 0. 16 M c. 0. 24 Md. 0. 32 M 15-3 % Concentration (% = g/100ml) 1. Mr. Harry's new baby is sick and not nursing well. The doctor suggests pedialyte which is a dilute sugar solution along with vitamin C. If there are 25 grams of dextrose in every 1. 0 L, what is the percent concentration? (A: 2. 5%) 2. Infant Tylenol contains 80 mg of acetominophen for every 0. 8 ml. What is its percent concentration? (A: 10%) 3. Vinegar is sold at the grocery store with a concentration of 5. 0 % acetic acid. How many grams of acetic acid are in every fluid ounce? (Hint: ml –> fl. oz? ) (A: 1. 5 g) 4.Robitussin cough medicine contains the following ingredients per teaspoonful (5 ml): 100 mg guaifenesin and 10 mg dextromethorphan hydrobromide. What is the percentage concentration for each ingredient? (A: 2 % guaifenesin, . 2 % dex †¦. . ) 15-4 Parts Per Million (PPM = mg/L) 1. LD50 is a designation for the level of dosage required to kill 50% of the test subjects – usually lab rats. If it takes only . 063 grams of arsenic in a 1. 0 liter volume to kill 50 % of a sample of test rats, what is the LD50 for arsenic in parts per million? (A: 63 ppm) 2. A water purifier claims that it removes 95% of the lead ions from your drinking water.If your water normally carries . 125 grams per liter of lead, what would be the concentration in ppm found in a glass of water you might drink from? (A: 6. 2 ppm) 3. If an adrenaline rush can be experienced when your blood contains only 5. 4 ppm of the hormone, what total mass of adrenaline is required in the blood of a person who has 6. 5 liters of blood total for the hormone to kick in? (A: 35. 1 mg) 4. A tanker of mercury (I) chloride, HgCl, carrying 150 tons crashes off the Washington coast. What total volume of sea water must the cargo mix with to dilute it down below the t hreshold of 4 ppm? (A: 3. 4 x 1010 L)

What Its Like Being a Chemist

Have you ever wondered what its like being a chemist? Here, real chemists share their job experience, including the pros and cons of working in chemistry. I asked chemists to address the following questions  about the career so that someone thinking about becoming a chemist could make an informed decision. What type of chemist are you?What do you do as a chemist?What is the best/worst part of your job?What training did you need? Was it easy/difficult to find a job as a chemist?Are you happy being a chemist? Why?What advice would you give someone interested in chemist? Keep in mind, some respondents come from non-English-speaking countries. The poll was taken in 2014. Here are their answers: thinking about change major I am coming from top 5 Chinese university and I did internship at senior year. I am a synthesis intern. From what I learned, there are a lot of jobs in the market, many new pharm companies. But the problem is the payment is very low (3k RMB in Nanjing. too low to survive in the city, but the company is in the poor area of the city, living standards are low) and the working condition is really bad, and working hours are long. One group member left the company because of health reasons, the doc warned him. I applied to US school then. It is nice to study aboard with stipend, but it is not enough to live in the city. It seems like chem job in US is impossible, and I certainly dont wanna go back china to work in chem job. So I am thinking about changing majors to biostatistics, CS or business. really struggling now. —chineseStudent 2014 and the job market is still bad. So many of the chemistry jobs are low paid contract positions with no job security. Most chemistry majors are not working in a lab or even in science. They are managers, sales people, regulatory, etc. In many companies at some point you are deemed too old to be working in a lab and no one will hire you, and the branding of too old is now about 35 years old. Sometimes even younger. Or you have low paid new grads as lab techs to do all the actual lab work while you sit in meetings all day and work 60 hour weeks. And businesses are all about profit and market share, not actual RD or science. Its sad sad sad.... —Unemployed/Underemployed Found a Job I have graduated from a university with a Bsc in Chemistry in 2013. After four months, I was able to find a job although not a good pay but I still want to continue with chemistry related job because am working as a Petroleum Officer. I am looking forward to develop my career in chemistry as I aspire to be a Chemical Engineer. —Sulayman Camara Life ruined I studied hard for 8 years straight only to find that there are absolutely no jobs anywhere. Ive been applying for jobs as a chemist for the last 3 years and havent found anything, Im still in debt from school loans and wonder why I ever went into this field. I now work 2 jobs, one at burger king and another shoveling dog sh** at a kennel. I cry myself to sleep most nights. —My life is over Poor choice of career My suggestion to anyone want to get into this field is STAY AWAY from chemistry. I graduated with a MS in chemistry back in 2007 and worked in several chem and pharma companies. I can tell you that 90% of people I worked with, including me regretted going into this field and I have yet met a person likes working with chemicals. Chemistry is over-saturated and underpaid. As an analytical chemist you will get around 30k to 45k. if you have a PhD and dont mind risk you life to work with explosive chemical reactions then you can get 45K to 70K. The reality is that there are just too many candidates available in the job market and many of them are PhD. There are no job security in this field. Many big company already moved their RD and manufacturing facility to Asia and they rarely offer perm position to technical positions. Ive seen too many people ordered to leave the company without a minute notice because they are on contract. —Peter L Tough but worked out so far I recently received my Ph.D. in organic chemistry (top 35 school). I had to work very hard for a long time including a 1 year industrial post doc. Now I work at the same company as a process chemist synthesizing active pharmaceutical ingredients. The pay is 80,000 and I love my job. It was very hard to find a job after my Ph.D. and I sent resumes all over the country. I love my job now and have even received calls from recruiters for other job opportunities. I think the job market is competitive and the supply is greater than the demand at the BS/MS level. I had a low paying temp job with my BS in chemistry before I decided to go to grad school. I think if your going to work as a chemist get your Ph.D. The work is more interesting and the pay is better. Also there are so many BS/MS chemists one of the best ways to beat the competition is to get your PhD. BS/MS chemists use to have more opportunity for advancement but now the job market seems saturated with them. —Organic chemist Graduate in 2004 I love chemistry. Its really fun and challenging, but only in terms of theories...working in lab sucks! long hours sometimes until midnight depends on experiment...underpaid...but thats not the main concern...I realize my health deteriorate significantly...lab work makes me dizzy. —K No jobs As a synthetic organic chemist with a PhD, 4 patents and a bunch of papers, 15 years of research, I am now a self-employed cleaner in Melbourne, Australia. If I had completed pharmacy, instead of doing my PhD, and wasting my time in medicinal chemistry I would be having a job now with at least some chemistry. —Ada Just got laid off, again! I got a job working in a chemistry lab, entry level Research Associate, early this year. Just got a pink slip and was told my last day is May 28th. I graduated in 2008 and I have gone through a series of odd jobs, low paying gigs, just to get by. Chemistry is the worst degree you can get, so much time and effort spent in class for nothing. If I knew I was gonna be jobless pursuing science, I would have taken a lighter route and studied business instead. All these undergraduate students running around blogging about the marvelous potential of chemistry career, parroting corporate propaganda is very annoying. I hope younger chemists can learn from older chemists mistakes and take a different approach to choosing careers. —Jobless Chemist If you havent finished, you dont know. Anyone who is still an undergrad is not qualified to speak on the state of the industry. You dont know what its like, so stop acting like you do. We all liked chemistry in our undergrad years, but the reality of chemistry very different. You all think its fun and challenging when your experiments arent working because youre learning. If someone is paying for your research and youre under pressure to perform, its not fun to fail. You spend most of your time writing grants, reading papers and getting walked over. When youre not doing that, youre dealing with idealistic students telling you Chemistry is for smart intelligent people -- there are no limits to what you can do! Education, skill, and ambition. Use it. You dont know, so shut up. I cant wait until you get into the real world and are back head posting the same stuff as everyone else. —Be quiet students chemistry is leaving the states I graduated with a BS in chemistry with a 3.89 gpa in 2010. I struggled to find a job. Everyone said I didnt have enough experience. I only had one interview and I got lucky they offered it to me as I was leaving the interview. I made 51K last year. My company just bought a lab overseas in India. They are opening a lab that does the exact same thing that we do but the cost will be a 1/3 of ours. I applied to a MBA program in the fall. Even though I love science and chemistry I just dont think there is a future in the USA for it. —wvchemist Its not a place for a career I am a recent graduate with an undergraduate degree in chemistry. Unlike most I was fortunate that during my summers I worked in a commercial analytical laboratory. It was miserable, no one seemed to enjoy themselves and many were looking for other avenues of employment. I personally struggled with it myself. It had approximately 20 employees 10 of whom Im still great friends with of those ten five remained and five returned to school for something unrelated or medical professions. I myself saw the job prospects early and balked, after discussing with my family I decided to go back and do my MBA I start in about a month and a half and my job prospects look infinitesimally larger, Ive already had a family friend offer me a well paid position upon graduation. To all those suggesting its easy to find a job its not. Chemistry is merely a stepping stone and Id never advocate doing a Chemistry degree and stopping there. Many of my friends who are also graduating are following my route. —Donewithchem Still cant find a job I am a fairly recent graduate (2010) with a BSc in Chemistry. I cannot get a job in Chemistry to save my life, despite having been trying continually for the last two years. I do have a job as a Radiological Controls Technician at a Naval shipyard, which pays decently and is a stable job, but I would much rather be working as a chemist. I love science and dont care about money, and chemistry is a great field. It breaks my heart to read all these posts from people working as lab techs whining about low pay and poor job security. I would do anything to be in their shoes! Anyways, I guess what I am trying to say advice-wise is this: dont go into chemistry if youre out to make money, because there isnt any to be made. —Aspiring Chemist Working as a Research Chemist I finished a PhD recently, and am now in a post-doctoral position. Furthermore, I am in Australia, and I notice that in this place we tend to get paid substantially more as Postdocs than in many other countries, such as the US. I have thoroughly enjoyed the whole research process, and the process of putting together journal articles for publication. I can understand that for those in industrial settings, the job market can be particularly volatile. The situation in academia is not much better if you are not able to come up with novel research and dedicate the time necessary to put out high-impact articles. However, personally, I enjoy the intellectual stimulation and I will try to do as much as I can for as long as I can. —OxathiazoleChemist MD BS BIOCHEMISTRY 1968, NO JOB OFFERS SO WENT TO GRAD SCHOOL, THEN NO JOB SO WENT TO MED SCHOOL...MANY PHYSICIANS WERE CHEMISTS, OR BIOCHEMISTS , NO JOBS SO MEDICINE IS A GOOD ENDPOINT FOR A CHEMIST....TRY TO ALSO GET PRE MED COURSES DONE AS PREREQUIRED. MY DAD WAS ALSO A CHEMIST BS BERKELEY, ENDED UP WORKING FOR THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA IN WATER POLLUTION REGULATION... SO CHEMISTRY IS JUST THE FIRST STEP, YOUR FINAL CAREER IS SOMEWHAT DIFFERENT, BUT THE CHEMISTRY BACKGROUND PERMITS YOUR ABILITY TO ENTER ANOTHER FIELD. BEST OF LUCK, ROBIN TRUMBULL,MD —DRTRUMBULL Other Options I have a BSc honours in physical chemistry. After struggling to get a job in the field, I eventually found a job writing and developing high school science resources. I am loving my job and get paid well. Yes, the job market sucks and it is a harsh environment but if you love it, stick with it. So my advice would be to consider other things that use your knowledge. And I would strongly urge all prospective chemists to learn about technology and learn to program or major in both computer science and chemistry. That really widens your field of possible jobs. Chemistry is not dead, we just need to get with the program and adapt to the brave new world of technology. There is so much more we can still do with this incredible and fascinating field but we need to accept that technology is part of it now. —Heather Forget about It! Just another voice to add to the choir from a mid-career PhD. If you are interested in chemistry and it is your passion, by all means pursue it as a hobby. But dont expect to make a career out of it, gain respect, and/or provide adequately and steadily for a family. —Forget about it! chemistry sucks I have a Bsc in Chemistry and still can not find a decent job, if I had known better I would never have majored in chemistry. —annoyed chemist Senior Chemist Quality and Quality assurance chemist last 20 years. I am working in petrochemical companies as a technical consult as well as QC QA and R D departments in sophisticated laboratory. —Mohammed Iqbal Job Market is Terrible I graduated last year with a BS in Chemistry with a 3.8 GPA, and so far for a year straight Ive been looking for a decent paying job that pays more than my current job. So far its a no go....beginning to get frustrated, and may just go back and get my PhD in Chemical Engineering. With student loan companies wanting their money, and no jobs to be found, thats about my only choice. —Aphyd Dont bother at all. Chemistry is dead I am a chemist, I have a B.S. and an M.S. with thesis from one of the top schools in this country (consistently ranked #1 for its masters program). I have worked at a multinational and I can tell you that chemistry is dead. If you are in school, study engineering or computer science. Do not waste your time. People do not appreciate chemistry. The value is on engineering or computer programming. The era of materials and chemistry-driven research on a scale to support newly graduates or mid-career individuals is over. I have been laid off two to three times and thats with awards, patents, publications, etc. from these companies. The bottom line is that its all about applied science (engineering) or computers (programming). I have over 5 years of experience and I would tell you not do it. Its wasteful. —wish I knew better Not a good career at all. Well as of 2012 I can say that I have actually been offered jobs, however they paid around 35-40k a year. On the other hand my part-time job that I had as an undergraduate is paying me now as full time 50-65k at a manufacturing plant (last year I made 50k and only worked 9 months). I have been looking for a job that will pay 50k and have steady day hours, so far its a fail. I dont know if I will ever find such job. When I talk to my undergraduate friends who are working in chem it is clear that I am doing much better than they are. Dont go into chemistry, from what I hear grad school is a waste of time for most people too. —2010 Graduate working as a chemist Hi, Chemistry is a very interesting subject to study. All branches of Chemistry are more or less related to one another, so the more you know, the better you understand. As for jobs, it all depends on what one likes best. Personally, I was lucky to work in the marketing of Chemicals to industry. Here the sky is the limit because Chemicals find use in so many industries. See how many Chemicals are used in the paint industry as an example. Blending scientific background with modern management practices is a formula for success. —a.haddad Student vs Working Perspective Ill remind the student that there is a big difference between sitting in a classroom, being amazed by the possibilities of chemistry and actually attempting to make a living from it. The negativity comes from those who ARE in the field APPLYING chemistry. Notice the title of this thread Working as a Chemist? We all loved our undergrad years, but the simple fact is that the industrial chemistry profession in the U.S. actually decreased by 2% according to the ACS. When you get a job, work for years, survive waves of layoffs and the get told youre overqualified for much of anything out there, come back to the thread and let us know how you coped with it all. Most of us were as optimistic about this profession as any undergrad. Then we graduated into reality. —WorkingChemist Chemistry I graduated with my BS chemistry in 2007 started out as production chemist around $50,000. I chose to go back and get my MS Chemistry while working (employer payed most of it) and in 2011 I graduated and took a new job as a process chemist at $85,000. I love my job, it is fast paced and steady. I have seen very little turn around in chemists, but lab techs come and go pretty quick. Overall I would definitely recommend it as a profession. Only big downside is there are not many women chemists on the industrial side, and at any plant/ refinery safety is always a slight compromise. —MS Chemist very happy to say i am a chemist Really i am very happy to say I am a chemist, i have faced so many problems to stand as a chemist in a field of chemical. I think that chemistry is evergreen. —swathi Chemistry was a waste of money for me I wanted to post here just so that people can read, understand, and hopefully not make the same mistakes I did. I graduated with a BS degree in 2005 and even STILL am battling constant layoffs and unemployment. Its really a horrible economy out there for us Chemists. I decided against Graduate school because I just didnt have the passion for it. I worked low paying job after job and gained a lot of industry experience. At the beginning I thought that I would just work my way up, but after about 7 years Im unemployed yet again after being laid off. At every job Im always thought of highly, wow youre the best temp weve ever had It doesnt matter I still get laid off and not hired. Whatever you do do not major in chemistry, and if you are considering graduate school unless you can get into one of the best, say f*** it. I repeat its a sh*tty career and job. —ChemDude contractor Would you please add another loser chemist here? With PhD in polymer chemistry as well as 2 years of postdoc. What I can do is short contract as a technician. BTW, I have no way to renew my membership of chemistry. —yoho chemistry and good jobs? It was a great punishment that God gave to me_BSc Chemistry. chemistry! chemistry!! —oli Has worked out for me I have a BS in chemistry and started my first job as a process chemist in 2005 making $42,000/yr. From 2007-2010 I did QC work for the same company. I took a job with a different company in 2011 and have been doing primarily ingredient preparation. For me, this consists of formulation, production of different blends, syntheses, and some minor mechanical maintenance. Counting bonuses, I grossed over $70,000 in 2011. I have worked under PhD chemists who make 6 figures a year. My short term objective at this point is to obtain my MS in chemistry. I have applied for Fall 2012 semester and will find out my acceptance status in May 2012. Obviously, due to the job market, employment will be tight but that is true for most job types. Some people will find success and others will not. This should go without saying. —Chemist81 Dead end career I have 15 years of synthetic chemistry experience, including process development and medicinal chemistry, I am published and have numerous patents. Our chemistry department was cut and outsourced. I now work as an analytical chemist, treated like a slave for 2/3 of what I used to make, in a job that is not intellectually stimulating in any way. I was lucky to get a job of any sort, synthetic jobs are impossible to find unless you want to move to India or China. My former coworkers have struggled to get interviews and are still unemployed. I agree with the poster that stated chemistry is dead in the USA. —formersyntheticchemist Chemistry is powerless Chemists are indeed smart but businesses treat them like very smart fools. The person just saying chemists can get a job anywhere clearly has no idea how the job market works. The only way a chemist can switch careers is to go back to school which is financially difficult or hide their degree and take a blue collar job. I took the police exam because at this point that would be a huge improvement. Many chemists like myself are trapped and unable to escape the never ending abuse and exploitation by companies who treat them worse than unskilled labor. —MSChemist *There was not space here for all the responses submitted by chemists, but I have posted additional replies on my personal blog, so you may read them all  and post your own opinion.