ReAction gives a scientist's and artist's response to the dark and bright sides of chemistry found in 140 films, most of them contemporary Hollywood feature films but also a few documentaries, shorts, silents, and international films.
Even though there are some examples of screen chemistry between the actors and of behind-the-scenes special effects, this book is really about the chemistry when it is part of the narrative. It is about the dualities of Dr. Jekyll vs. inventor chemists, the invisible man vs. forensic chemists, chemical weapons vs. classroom chemistry, chemical companies that knowingly pollute the environment vs. altruistic research chemists trying to make the world a better place to live, and, finally, about people who choose to experiment with mind-altering drugs vs. the drug discovery process.
Little did Jekyll know when he brought the Hyde formula to his lips that his personality split would provide the central metaphor that would come to describe chemistry in the movies. This book explores the two movie faces of this supposedly neutral science. Watching films with chemical eyes, Dr. Jekyll is recast as a chemist engaged in psychopharmaceutical research but who becomes addicted to his own formula. He is balanced by the often wacky inventor chemists who make their discoveries by trial-and-error.

This book was conceived as a way to disseminate information about successful NSF-sponsored Chemistry Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) Sites. Eleven chapters describe specific REU sites and one chapter describes the Chemistry REU Leadership Group. The authors have shared the expertise they acquired from a broad range of approaches, multi-disciplinary collaborations, and multi-institutional collaborations. Each author contributes distinctive and partially overlapping perspectives into the complex factors that result in running a successful summer research program. Half of the authors participated in a symposium titled "Best Practices for Chemistry REU Programs" at the spring 2017 national meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS). Each described their program's distinctive features in the context of their overall summer experience, such as the integration of deaf and hearing impaired, coordination of an international program, and multi-institutional programs. The other half of the authors participated in one of the symposia hosted by the Chemistry REU Leadership Group at spring ACS national meetings between 2013 and 2016. Each of these symposia focused on a different aspect of successful REU programs. These authors describe excellent models for professional development and mentor training workshops among many others. This book hopes to provide undergraduate research advisors at universities across the nation with information they need to design more thoughtful and beneficial college undergraduate research programs for their majors, and to provide investigators with useful information to write more effective proposals that will fund more summer research programs.