An Explosive Passion for Teaching Chemistry | Andrew Szydlo | TEDxManchester

We live during a time where encouraging students to focus on “STEM” subjects is more important than ever before. And yet these subjects are often considered boring or too hard. Andrew Szydlo is on a mission to inspire students about the power and magic of chemistry and how chemistry relates to everyday life. As performs an incredible 25 experiments in 15 minutes, his passion for the subject is both compelling and occasionally hysterical. Be sure to watch to the end as he concludes with a demonstration worthy of a Hollywood blockbuster and earns a standing ovation. Chemistry is not an Olympic sport, but if it was, Andrew Szydlo would undoubtedly be our reigning gold medallist. Andrew is an internationally acclaimed chemistry teacher and holds a PhD in the History and Philosophy of Science from UCL. He has a particular expertise on the history of alchemy and his 1994 book ‘Water Which Does Not Wet Hands’ is considered to be the standard reference work on the Polish alchemist Michael Sendivogius.

But his polymath spirit extends beyond chemistry: he’s a violin, bugle and accordion player, as well as a professional photographer. Throughout the years Andrew has wowed audiences all around the world with his pyrotechnical approach to teaching and demonstrating chemical sciences on stage and has appeared many times on TV. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx