Several private-equity companies are rumoured to be eyeing bits of Boots, a British chemist.

ECONOMIST: Mergers and acquisitions

But 200 years ago the young British chemist Luke Howard lay for hours gazing at the clouds--and then found a way to turn his observations into an elegant set of names still in use today.

FORBES: Head in the Clouds

So in 1898, in a speech to the British Association, a chemist, Sir William Crookes, argued again that worldwide starvation was inevitable within a generation.

ECONOMIST: The story of wheat: Ears of plenty | The

The material is the brainchild of University of Sheffield chemist Tony Ryan, aided by British designer Helen Storey and a team from the University of Ulster.

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