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Andrew Szydlo

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Andrew Szydlo
CChem FRSC
Szydlo at Bright Ideas conference, Durham, 2021
Born
Zbigniew Szydlo

1949 (age 74–75)
London, England
Alma materImperial College London, London University
OccupationChemistry Teacher
EmployerHighgate School

Andrew Zbigniew Szydlo (/ʃɪdloʊ/ SHID-low; born 1949) is a British chemist and chemistry teacher, best known for his talks and lectures on chemistry.

Biography

[edit]

Szydlo was born in London, England to Polish parents, and attended Latymer Upper School, and then Imperial College London and University College London. He currently teaches – since September 1972[1] – chemistry at Highgate School, a private school in North London. He holds MSc, PhD, DIC, ACGI, and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry, of which he is also a CChem. In 2020, Szydlo was awarded a Pearson National Teaching award for Lifetime Achievement.[2]

An expert on the history of alchemy, Szydlo is the author of the standard work on the Polish alchemist, Michael Sendivogius. The thesis of his book "Water that does not wet hands": The Alchemy of Michael Sendivogius,[3] which argues that Sendivogius' role in the discovery of oxygen has not received proper attention, has won widespread acceptance within the academic community. He advanced this argument in a leading article for History Today, co-authored with Richard Brzezinski, entitled "A New Light on Alchemy".[4] His work on seventeenth-century science is an ongoing project to which he hopes to devote further attention. In 2015 he published Schoolmaster's Diary, a photo diary celebrating four decades of school life seen through his chemistry teacher's lens.[5]

Dr. Szydlo performing at the Royal Institution (March 2009)

He frequently gives public lectures in the United Kingdom on topics including the History of Chemistry. Recent performances at Cambridge University,[6] Durham University,[7] University College London,[8] the Royal Institution,[9] Cheltenham Science Festival[10] and Hampton Court[11] have received much acclaim: writing in the journal Chemistry & Industry on Szydlo's performance at Cambridge, John Wilkins remarked that "Dr Szydlo exceeded all expectations; he raced through vast tracts of practical chemistry, history, alchemy, the discovery of oxygen, the internal combustion engine, and on occasion, introduced music too. His lecture was interspersed with flashes, bangs, colour changes, detonations and eruptions, keeping the 350-strong crowd on the edge of their seats throughout." This lively, multi-media approach characterises Szydlo's performances, which include experiments drawn from a wide repertory, ranging from the chemistry of colour to pyrotechnics and high explosives. He has also appeared at several festivals as part of the Guerilla Science team.[11] He also lectures regularly at secondary schools throughout the United Kingdom, and has remarked that he often finds the audiences he addresses at under-privileged schools the most inspiring.[12] These lectures are sometimes featured in the local press.[13] Szydlo also regularly gives talks for the wider community, including such institutions as the Stuart Low Trust,[14] Haringey Council Cared for Children, and the Polish Scouting and Guiding Association. His recent Webinars for students in Turkey and Tunisia have been very well received.[15][16] He has also been invited to give numerous lectures and demonstrations abroad, including Poland, Mauritius (2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020) and Namibia (2016). Szydlo has the highest rank (Harcmistrz) in the Polish Scouting Association, and has regularly participated in its activities since 1965.

Szydlo performing an experiment with gases in 2021

More recently, he has collaborated with Andrea Sella of University College London and the author Hugh Aldersey-Williams in Elements, an exhibition at the Wellcome Collection,[17] where he spoke about the Dutch alchemist Cornelis Drebbel, situating Drebbel in a broader scientific and historical context and illustrating the talk with lively experiments.[18] Aldersey-Williams has worked with Szydlo before, both as a pupil at Highgate School, where he recalls Szydlo as 'a man of many talents ... always liable to whip out his gipsy violin mid-lesson',[19] and in writing his recent book Periodic Tales, when he recruited Szydlo's expertise in an attempt to recreate the experiment that discovered phosphorus.

Seven of his recent lectures at the Royal Institution: Magic of Chemistry (2014),[20] Blaze of Steel (2015),[21] Fireworks and Waterworks (2016),[22] Bonfires with a Bang (2017),[23] Chemistry of Coal (2018),[24] Metal Mayhem (2019)[25] and The explosive History of Hydrogen (2022)[26] have been made available on YouTube. His Tedx talks at Newcastle and Manchester have received widespread acclaim, as has his appearance at the 15 Seconds Festival in Graz (2019).[27][28][29] He is also featured in the Royal Society of Chemistry's 175 Faces of Chemistry.[30]

In recent years, he has appeared in six television serials: as a chemistry teacher in That'll Teach 'em (Channel 4, 2006)[31] and Sorcerer's Apprentice (CBBC, 2007);[32] as a science historian in Absolute Zero (BBC4, 2007);[33] as a chemist in Generals at War (National Geographic, 2009);[34] in Big, Bigger, Biggest (Channel 5, 2009);[35] and as "The Doc" in Secrets of Everything (BBC3, 2012).[36]

Music is a passion, and he is an accomplished player of instruments including the violin, piano, bugle and accordion. The string quartet Alchymic Quartet by Graham Waterhouse, with whom he played duos when teaching at Highgate School, was inspired by his chemical experiments;[37] he performed them for the premiere on 4 November 2022.[38] Another passion is photography, a field in which he has considerable expertise. He has exhibited his own photographs, and recently contributed a preface to a book of photographs published by the artist Stephane Graff.[39] Other interests include Polish dancing, automobile engineering, meteorology, beekeeping, and mycology. Amongst his pupils, he is renowned for lessons which incorporate unusual and spectacular experiments, and for bursts of theatricality such as blowing fire and cooling hot drinks with liquid nitrogen before tasting them. His lecture and television performances reflect his broad cultural interests and distinctive character.

Additionally, he has a passion for automotive engineering, running a school automotive society where he teaches students about auto engineering using old Triumph Heralds.

Selected publications

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  1. A New Light on Alchemy (1997)[40]
  2. Teaching experimental chemistry in English schools (2012)[41]
  3. Michael Faraday the educator (2017)[42]
  4. Two English Chemists/Authors/Teachers: John Read and James Riddick Partington (2018)[43]
  5. History of Fire (2019)[44]
  6. Hydrogen - Some Historical Highlights (Mar 2021)[45]
  7. Chemical Electricity (Dec 2021)[46]
  8. The beginnings of chemistry: from ancient times until 1661(2022)[47]
  9. Science Curiosities Cabinet And The Chemical Showcase (2023)[48]

References

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  1. ^ https://uk.linkedin.com/pub/andrew-szydlo/86/1b9/526 LinkedIn Entry. Retrieved 15 June 2015. – September 1972 – December 1974: Chemistry, Science, DT, Mathematics at Cardinal Manning School, Highgate School; Jan 1975 – today: Chemistry at Highgate School
  2. ^ "Dr Andrew Szydlo".
  3. ^ Published by the Polish Academy of Sciences in 1994.
  4. ^ Vol. 47, issue 1: http://www.historytoday.com/MainArticle.aspx?m=13491&amid=13491
  5. ^ "Chemistry teacher's epic photo diary celebrates four decades in the classroom". 26 November 2015.
  6. ^ "talks.cam : Fireworks and Waterworks! Lecture & demonstration". University of Cambridge.
  7. ^ "Conferences and events". rsc.org.
  8. ^ "UCL Chemistry – Contact Pages". Archived from the original on 25 September 2006. Retrieved 11 April 2009.
  9. ^ "The Royal Institution of Great Britain | Schools event: As if by magic". Archived from the original on 12 June 2011. Retrieved 10 April 2009.
  10. ^ "Science and maths festive extravaganzas". Cheltenham Festivals.
  11. ^ a b Science, Guerilla. "Home". Guerilla Science.
  12. ^ Personal communication with the author.
  13. ^ e.g. 'Smoke and steam fire up and enthusiasm for science', Ham & High, 12 March 2009.
  14. ^ "Search Results for "szydlo" – The Stuart Low Trust".
  15. ^ ""Mystery of Chemistry" Webinar by Dr. Andrew Szydlo | ChemTalk' #2". YouTube.
  16. ^ "It's with great honor and privilege for me to be the coordinator and – Aymen Labidi on LinkedIn".
  17. ^ "Kill or cure? It's elementary at Wellcome Collection's late event – Wellcome". wellcome.ac.uk.
  18. ^ "Elements explode at new science exhibition". The Independent. 12 April 2011. Archived from the original on 7 May 2022.
  19. ^ Hugh Aldersey-Williams, Periodic Tales: the curious lives of the elements, Viking (2011), pp. 120–123
  20. ^ The Royal Institution (4 June 2014). "The Magic of Chemistry – with Andrew Szydlo". Archived from the original on 22 December 2021 – via YouTube.
  21. ^ The Royal Institution (11 March 2015). "Blaze of Steel: Explosive Chemistry – with Andrew Szydlo". Archived from the original on 22 December 2021 – via YouTube.
  22. ^ The Royal Institution (17 February 2016). "Fireworks and Waterworks – with Andrew Szydlo". Archived from the original on 22 December 2021 – via YouTube.
  23. ^ The Royal Institution (24 January 2018). "The Chemistry of Fire and Gunpowder – with Andrew Szydlo". Archived from the original on 22 December 2021 – via YouTube.
  24. ^ The Royal Institution (19 December 2018). "Andrew Szydlo's Chemistry of Coal". Archived from the original on 22 December 2021 – via YouTube.
  25. ^ The Royal Institution (2 November 2019). "Metal Mayhem – with Andrew Szydlo". Archived from the original on 22 December 2021 – via YouTube.
  26. ^ The explosive history of hydrogen – with Andrew Szydlo, retrieved 8 June 2023
  27. ^ "From Atoms to Boom". 14 November 2018.
  28. ^ Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: An Explosive Passion for Teaching Chemistry | Andrew Szydlo | TEDxManchester. YouTube.
  29. ^ Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: Andrew Szydlo: From Atoms To Boom | Fifteen Seconds Festival 2019, Graz, Austria. YouTube.
  30. ^ "Dr Andrew Szydlo DIC ACGI CChem FRSC – 175 Faces of Chemistry". rsc.org. Archived from the original on 6 September 2019.
  31. ^ "That'll Test 'Em". IMDb.
  32. ^ "Sorcerer's Apprentice – Next on – BBC – CBBC". BBC.
  33. ^ "BBC – BBC Four Documentaries – Absolute Zero". Archived from the original on 14 November 2011. Retrieved 25 December 2019.
  34. ^ "Generals at War – National Geographic". Natgeotv.com.au. Archived from the original on 9 April 2011. Retrieved 26 May 2019.
  35. ^ "Channel Homepage". National Geographic Channel. Archived from the original on 2 July 2018. Retrieved 26 May 2019.
  36. ^ "BBC Three – The Secrets of Everything". BBC.
  37. ^ "GW60 – Festkonzert" (PDF). Graham Waterhouse (in German). 2022. pp. 4, 11. Retrieved 8 December 2022.
  38. ^ "Landpartie mit "neuer" Musik". Gilching (in German). 26 October 2022. Retrieved 28 December 2022.
  39. ^ Stephane Graff, Professore, Istanbul (2010)
  40. ^ "Alchemy: New Light on a Dark Art | History Today". www.historytoday.com. Retrieved 8 June 2023.
  41. ^ Szydło, Zbigniew A. (1 December 2012). "Teaching Experimental Chemistry in English Schools / Nauczanie Chemii Doświadczalnej W Angielskich Szkołach". Chemistry-Didactics-Ecology-Metrology. 17 (1–2): 7–25. doi:10.2478/cdem-2013-0001.
  42. ^ Szydło, Zbigniew A. (1 December 2017). "Michael Faraday the educator - an essay to commemorate the 150 th anniversary of Faraday's Death". Chemistry-Didactics-Ecology-Metrology. 22 (1–2): 43–57. doi:10.1515/cdem-2017-0002. ISSN 2084-4506.
  43. ^ Szydło, Zbigniew A. (1 December 2018). "Two English Chemists/Authors/Teachers: John Read and James Riddick Partington". Chemistry-Didactics-Ecology-Metrology. 23 (1–2): 47–69. doi:10.1515/cdem-2018-0003.
  44. ^ Szydło, Zbigniew A. (1 December 2019). "History of Fire". Chemistry-Didactics-Ecology-Metrology. 24 (1–2): 23–43. doi:10.2478/cdem-2019-0002. ISSN 2084-4506.
  45. ^ "ResearchGate".
  46. ^ Szydło, Zbigniew A. (1 December 2021). "Chemical Electricity". Chemistry-Didactics-Ecology-Metrology. 26 (1–2): 5–29. doi:10.2478/cdem-2021-0001.
  47. ^ Szydło, Zbigniew A. (1 July 2022). "The beginnings of chemistry: from ancient times until 1661". Pure and Applied Chemistry. 94 (7): 869–888. doi:10.1515/pac-2022-0203. ISSN 1365-3075.
  48. ^ Szydło, Zbigniew A. (1 December 2022). "Science Curiosities Cabinet And The Chemical Showcase". Chemistry-Didactics-Ecology-Metrology. 27 (1–2): 79–103. doi:10.2478/cdem-2022-0007. ISSN 2084-4506.
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