Someone reminded me the other day of a podcast I hosted in January 2020, in which I hoped that 2020 would bring everyone lots of good things.

Well, if nothing else, we’ve proved that I definitely don’t have prophetic abilities, eh?

But 2020 hasn’t been all unpleasantness. There have been some bright spots, and I’m about to tell you about one! Back in November the science historian and writer, Dr Kit Chapman (@ChemistryKit), tweeted:

“If I were to commission a colouring book of scientists as heroes/villains (they get to pick what they want to be shown as – superheroes, princesses, wizards etc), would you be up for being a model? Colouring book would be free for all. Just a charity thing for inspiring kids.”

Now, how cool is that idea? Kit set up a GoFundMe which raised (as I write this) over £300, and also sourced twenty different STEM “heroes” to feature in the colouring book. His goal was to ensure multiple ethnicities, gender identities and body types were represented, as well as members of the LGBTQ+ and disabled communities and scientists with mental health disorders. In other words: science is for everyone.

Kit is a science writer (a really good one, read his book) so, of course, he had to include at least one science writer in the book, luckily for me!
 My colouring page is Discworld-themed, because of course it is. It’s based on the Alchemists’ Guild, which on the Disc is… quite an exciting place. To quote a conversation between dwarf Cheery Littlebottom and Sam Vimes in the 19th Discworld book, Feet of Clay:

‘I was quite good at alchemy.’
‘Guild member?’
‘Not any more, sir.’
‘Oh? How did you leave the guild?’
‘Through the roof, sir. But I’m pretty certain I know what I did wrong.’

Like Cheery, I no longer work in a lab, but I do very much enjoy writing about horrible smells, scary acids and everyday chemistry.

You can download a full-size, high-resolution version of my colouring page from here, and you can download the entire book in one go, too — that should keep everyone busy in these slow days between Christmas and New Year!

If you do colour a page — any of them — please come and share it with me: @chronicleflask on Twitter.

I won’t say Happy New Year because, well, that didn’t work out so well last time. So, instead, let’s go with happy end of 2020!

See you all soon and remember, if you’re setting fire to a pudding, do keep it away from the curtains.

If you’re studying chemistry, have you got your Pocket Chemist yet? Why not grab one? It’s a hugely useful tool, and by buying one you’ll be supporting this site – it’s win-win! If you happen to know a chemist, it would make a brilliant stocking-filler! As would a set of chemistry word magnets!

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Want something non-sciency to distract you from, well, everything? Why not check out my fiction blog: the fiction phial.