Chemists gather in denver to get the big picture.

The Rockies were hidden by clouds, but "Welcome ACS" signs were visible all over the Mile High City from 28 March to 2 April. No wonder the city's boosters were cheering: More than 10,000 scientists, purveyors of laboratory equipment, and other chemophiles had flooded into Denver to take in a vision of chemistry's intellectual scope that was wide enough to compensate for the missing scenic grandeur. In just a tiny sampling of the roughly 4800 presentations, chemistry appears in guises ranging from the most basic molecule making, through cleanup strategies for major environmental challenges, to forensic methods for unraveling a historical mystery.