Chemistry professor writes that historically chemists have experienced chemophobia from the population at large, and considers that it is rooted both in irrational notions and in genuine concerns (such as those over chemical warfare and industrial disasters). Professor Gordon Gribble has written that the start of chemophobia could arguably be attributed to "Silent Spring", and that subsequent events such as the contamination of Times Beach and the disaster at Bhopal, India only exacerbated the situation.