The concept that the public is interested in science and can benefit from learning about science has expanded far beyond what Count Rumford could have imagined. Today we have books, magazines, videos, television programs, museums, theme parks, Web sites, and many other venues that include science. However, I always have a twinge of disappointment when I look at the shelves in our local bookstore and find that there are far more titles in other sciences than in chemistry. I think not. Popularizing chemistry is more dependent on human interaction than is popularizing many other sciences.
People deal with devices that approximate Newtonian physics every day.
The stars, moon, and planets are there every night, and their vast number and regular motions inspire awe. Living systems are familiar to everyone, and we can observe their behavior and classify them. But chemistry is often hidden or complicated. Cooking food changes the food chemically, but both initial and final versions, like most other substances we encounter daily, are complicated mixtures. Chemists' atomic-scale models are not accessible to our senses.