Dr Kit Chapman is a Lecturer in Digital Media within the Media, Communication and Performing Arts division.
- Overview
- Research Interests
- Research Publications
- Teaching & Learning
- Activities & Awards
Kit is a science adventurer and communicator, specialising in the history of chemistry. He trained as a pharmacist, gaining his MPharm from the University of Bradford, before becoming a journalist for national and international titles.
He won the PPA's New Business News Journalist of the Year, was shortlisted for Journalist of the Year, and has collected a further 20 national and international awards and shortlistings. His first book, Superheavy, was published in 2019 and has been translated into Chinese and Japanese. His second, Racing Green, was named RAC Motorsport Book of the Year 2023. He continues to be a practising journalist, and in his spare time writes interactive computer games.
Kit joined Queen Margaret University in 2024, and continues to work part-time at Falmouth University, in addition to being the external examiner for Oxford Brookes University's media courses.
Kit has a PhD in the history and philosophy of science from the University of Sunderland, focused on the motivations for transuranic element discovery and expansion of the periodic table.
Affiliations (including memberships) to other organisations:
Fellow,
Fellow,
Member,
Kit's research is practice-based, and focuses on the use of storytelling and contextualisation to share complex science and historical information in an entertaining way, particularly to disadvantaged communities. He also explores the use of multimodal formats to convey ideas, and explores the use of culture in creating narrative frameworks in interactive media.
Active Research Interests
The history of chemistry (from Egyptian alchemy to present)
Second world war scientific discoveries and innovations
Interactive media, particularly interactive fiction
Mythology and folk traditions as they relate to historical context
Motorsport science
Research Methods
Writing popular science books and video games
Writing, journalism, media and storytelling
RAC Motorsport Book of the Year 2023
American Academy for the Advancement of Science SB&F Prize for Young Adults 2020 (finalist)
Association of British Science Writers - Steve Connor Award for Investigative Journalism 2024 (finalist)
Your Expert Guide - The Periodic Table (Hachette Children's and the Royal Society of Chemistry)
Your Expert Guide - Chemistry (Hachette Children's and the Royal Society of Chemistry)
The Secret History of Chemistry (Profile) Dance of the Night, an interactive novel (Heart's Choice LLC)
