What Will Chemistry Do in the Next Twenty Years?

Abstract The path of chemistry in the future will be determined both by its participation in solving large‐scale societal problems and by its generation of new ideas through basic research. This article sketches four of the areas of societal “pull” in which chemistry will play a role in solving applied problems—national security, health care, the environment, and energy—and four areas in which basic research will be especially fruitful—materials chemistry, biological chemistry, computational chemistry, and chemistry exploring the limits of size and speed in chemical phenomena.