Vanessa A. Seifert

From correcting research imbalances to placing value on lived experiences

Looking beyond today’s periodic table

My review at the Journal for General Philosophy of Science.

My take on this question for BBC CrowdScience radio series

The neglected 'laws' of chemistry- and why they matter

And if so, of what kind?

A debate about metaphysics that’s crucial to how we understand the world

Interview at the Science Me Podcast where I present the basic ideas & questions in philosophy of science (in greek).

Supporting a hypothesis is more difficult than it might seem

How gender may influence scientific knowledge

Ionic, covalent, metallic and more… but there’s debate about whether bonds are real at all

Can aesthetics contribute to chemistry?

Questioning the purpose of science

Analysing the practice of chemistry from a feminist perspective

There could be more to learn from ordering the elements

Exploring the world of epistemology

A familiar concept that's difficult to define

How chemistry provides a unique perspective on causation

How supposedly scientific arguments for the inferiority of women support gender discrimination

Talk at CEFISES I UCLouvain

The role of background beliefs and assumptions in the development of science

How an event in chemistry shaped philosophy

A summary co-written with A. Franklin on our joint BJPS paper

Empirical evidence is not always sufficient to evaluate the models we use

Without realising it, chemists use a range of philosophical tools to probe the world

Proving that atoms and molecules exist is surprisingly difficult

First article in new column 'Thought Experiments' in Chemistry World, published by the Royal Society of Chemistry.

With Karoliina Pulkkinnen and Sarah Hijmans, we created Jargonium; a website that brings the humanities closer to chemistry!

Article at The Conversation

Article at The Conversation

Some further thoughts on the nature of reactions

In the quest to discover new chemical elements, scientists may take us beyond the bounds of the periodic table.

Talk at the "Units, Symbols, and Terminology in the Physical Sciences in and for the Digital Era" Workshop, held at the Royal Society of Chemistry

Lessons with philosophical significance for how we group people and objects

Why is it so controversial to do the right thing for the environment?

The importance of the expert eye in scientific progress

It was crucial to the development of chemistry

Talk at the Center for the Philosophy of Science and Society at the Université catholique de Louvain

Talk (in greek) for the celebration of the 25 years of the Master's program on Chemical Education

Appreciating technology’s role in understanding how the world works

Talk at the 26th Conference of the International Society for the Philosophy of Chemistry

How scientists look into the past, present and future

Examining how science excludes women and other underrepresented groups

Obvious answers with complex interpretations

My review of Philip Ball's book The Elements : a visual history of their discovery.

Searching for the (exact) meaning of life

A tribute to a great scholar, co-written w/ James Ladyman

Open access article in Communications Chemistry, a journal of Nature Portfolio

Profile at ChemMatters - a magazine of the Americal Chemical Society 

How the Scientific Revolution made it culturally permissible to exploit nature

Co-presented w/ Alexander Franklin

95th Joint Session of the Aristotelian Society, Open Session

Foundations of Physics Harvard Series: Talk and Panel Discussion

Panel Discussion w/ Clare Moriarty, Jessica Wilson & Philip Ball 

How simplifications help us to better understand the world

A short summary of my published paper "The strong emergence of molecular structure"

There is no doubt that chemistry provokes interesting philosophical questions.

Intrumentation and Measurement I Physics World weekly podcast

My review of a collection of articles ed. by E. Scerri & G. Fisher