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Botanic Garden Chemistry Audio Tour

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A chemistry tour of the Oxford University Botanic Garden.

# Episode Title Description People Date
21 Creative Commons 01. Welcome and Introduction A welcome to the Botanic Garden and the Chemistry at the Garden audio trail from the Senior Curator, Dr Alison Foster. Alison Foster 18 Oct 2012
20 Creative Commons 02. A few words about chemicals Everything is made of chemicals - whether they are from a natural source or not. Alison Foster 18 Oct 2012
19 Creative Commons 03. Take care with the word organic Hear what the word organic means to a chemist. Alison Foster 18 Oct 2012
18 Creative Commons 04. Robert Robinson, a revolutionary chemist Sir Robert Robinson used the Botanic Garden in his research investigating the structures of alkaloids derived from plants. Ed Anderson 18 Oct 2012
17 Creative Commons 05. Energy from the sun How plants use energy from the sun to make food from carbon dioxide and water. Alison Parkin 18 Oct 2012
16 Creative Commons 06. New materials from plants The lotus plant has inspired the development of new self-cleaning materials. James McCullagh 18 Oct 2012
15 Creative Commons 07. The many tastes of ginger Ginger contains a cocktail of different molecules. The different molecules in dried, cooked and fresh ginger lead to different flavours. Ed Anderson 18 Oct 2012
14 Creative Commons 08. The chemistry of decaffeination How chemistry impacts on decaffeination of the world's second most popular drink. Gem Toes 18 Oct 2012
13 Creative Commons 09. The hottest plant in the world How chillis and a euphorbia are helping to produce new painkillers. Ed Anderson 18 Oct 2012
12 Creative Commons 10. Colourful vegetables Pigments from plants are different colours depending on the chemical environment they are in. Elizabeth Rayment 18 Oct 2012
11 Creative Commons 11. The machine inside plants The photosynthetic machinery inside plants is explained. Alison Parkin 18 Oct 2012
10 Creative Commons 12. Healing molecules or poisonous plants? The notorious history of healing molecules. Many molecules from plants can be used as medicines but are also toxic if the dose is too large. Diane Lim 18 Oct 2012
9 Creative Commons 13. New medicines from plants Many modern medicines are derived from plants. Alison Foster 18 Oct 2012
8 Creative Commons 14. The caramel tree Why the Katsura tree smells of caramel and how analytical techniques have solved the problem of what is responsible for the smell. James McCullagh 18 Oct 2012
7 Creative Commons 15. Nitrogen uptake by plants Why nitrogen is important to plants and the communities of microorganisms living in the soil. Kylie Vincent 18 Oct 2012
6 Creative Commons 16. Nitrogen fixation Hear about natures natural nitrogen fixers. Kylie Vincent 18 Oct 2012
5 Creative Commons 17. Ancient pigments How chemistry can change the colour of dye molecules from plants. James McCullagh 18 Oct 2012
4 Creative Commons 18. Why are plants green? Why chlorophyll and hence plants, looks green. Alison Parkin 18 Oct 2012
3 Creative Commons 19. Plants in extreme environments How plants manage to photosynthesise in extreme environments. Alison Parkin 18 Oct 2012
2 Creative Commons 20. Pigments from plants One small part of the plant kingdom makes a different type of pigment to all the rest. Alison Foster 18 Oct 2012
1 Creative Commons 21. Thank you and goodbye Thank you for exploring the Botanic Garden with our group of plant loving chemists. Alison Foster 18 Oct 2012