The molecular universe

Chemistry without numbers is poetry astrochemistry without numbers is myth. A molecule placed around a star, in a nebula, lost in the interstellar medium, on a planet or within a cell has the potential for very complex and beautiful chemistry but unless we can understand the local conditions and how the molecule interacts with them we have no idea what chemistry is really happening. To understand astrochemistry we need to understand the physical conditions that occur within many diverse molecular environments. The exploration of the molecular universe will take us on a long journey through the wonders of astronomy to the new ideas of astrobiology 

Our mission is to explore the molecular universe with an understanding of all of the local molecular environments and constrain possible chemical reactions using the concepts of physical chemistry. With such a wide brief we need a focus and I have chosen the origins of life on Earth and on all planets - astrobiology. 

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In the far reaches of interstellar space, over 130 different chemical compounds have been identified. These discoveries have been possible because of the nature of quantum mechanics and the fingerprint pattern that gas-phase molecules exhibit in high resolution spectra. These patterns can be measured very accurately in the laboratory, and then compared with radio telescope observations to seek out novel chemical species. A new view of the molecular Universe has emerged as a result. 

I tried to present in this textbook a new system of teaching chemistry that may appeal to chemists and nonchemists alike, as it projects the beauty and aesthetics of the molecular universe, and it teaches quite a few complex topics in a fun and chemistry-loving manner. 

Aikawa Y, Furuya K, Wakelam V et al (2011) Hydrodynamical-chemical models from prestellar cores to protostellar cores. In The molecular Universe, Proceedings of the international astronomical union, lAU symposium Conference held in Toledo (Spain), June 2011... 

Major concerns in astrochemistry are (1) the identification of the molecules that exist in the cosmos and the characterisation of the physical conditions in those regions of the uiuverse where the observed molecules are found (2) laboratory measurements on the spectroscopy of potential molecules and on the rates and products of homogeneous and heterogeneous processes that may contribute to the formation and destruction of molecules, under the generally extreme interstellar conditions where molecules are found (3) the creation of computer models that use laboratory data and seek both to reproduce what is found in the molecular universe , and to suggest what other molecules may be present and which processes appear to be especially important, so as to focus the efforts of laboratory scientists. These topics are dealt with, in turn in chapters by Maryvonne Gerin (in Chap. 2), Michael Pilling (in Chap. 3), and by Valentine Wakelam, Herma Cuppen and Eric Herbst (in Chap. 4). 

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