Future of Chemistry Assumptions: Taking Chemistry in New Directions**

Speculating about the future of science seems to be genetically encoded in scientists. We all do it. We also take it as an article of faith that serious predictions are almost always wrong. Is thinking about the future an important thing to do, or just a diversion—like daydreaming, or gardening, or playing the lottery? Why do we spend our time guessing about matters we believe we cannot predict? There are at least five reasons. The first is utilitarian: to plan our work. Thinking about the future is a part of choosing research problems. We who make our living in science tell ourselves that we work for the satisfaction of solving problems and for the thrill of discovery; sociologists, less charitably, suggest that we do so to make a living and to get ahead professionally. The truth is probably a mixture of the two. Finding good problems—problems that polish a new facet of reality and that change the way some part of the world works—is both satisfying intellectually and rewarding professionally. The second reason is to feed our curiosity. We wonder about the world of the future. What neat widgets will make that world run? Which of our fantasies will grow into our grandchildren%s realities? The third is philosophical. Science and technology are major elements of the culture of our times. They, probably more than other elements (materialism, religious fundamentalism, capitalism, ...), will change the nature of individuals and of society. We wonder: What will the big changes be? How will science be involved? The fourth is that society expects us to speculate. We are part of its early warning system for change. The fifth is to answer an uncomfortable question: “Is there research that we should not do?” We scientists generally cohabit quite comfortably with an amoral curiosity. We should ask if there is research we can do now—research that is technically feasible and scientifically interesting—that we should forgo because it is ethically problematic. Are there questions we don%t want to ask, because there are no circumstances in which we might want to know the answers?