Kit Chapman was born in Southampton, UK, moved to Hong Kong as a kid, went to boarding school, left boarding school, and has fallen into random adventures and misadventures ever since. His passion for science has taken him to research projects on six continents, acting as a first-hand witness to some of the world’s most incredible scientific achievements.
Kit’s research interests are interactive storytelling, science, travel and adventure. He’s been stuck upside down in the cenotes of Mexico, sailed up the Amazon river, and once had a gun levelled at him while trying to get into a Russian nuclear facility. He’s seen three of the ancient Wonders of the World, five of the new seven. Basically, he gets about a bit.
Science tourism
For the past 10 years Kit has set out to visit as many scientifically interesting locations as possible, always opting for the most ecologically sound way to travel that’s practicable. This has taken Kit all around the world, from stunning sites of geological and environmental importance to the high-tech world of cutting edge nuclear physics. A few of the visited hotspots are charted on the map below.
Assorted facts
- Kit ran the London Marathon in 2013 to avoid spending all his money at a wargaming expo going on at the same time
- Kit has seen five of the seven modern Wonders of the World, been to the locations of six of the ancient Wonders, and five of the seven natural Wonders. That’s a lot of wondering
- Kit’s favourite element is either boron (because it’s weird), bismuth (because it’s pretty) or oganesson (because he knows the person it’s named after)
- Kit has seen the world’s rarest element, been inside the world’s fastest supercomputer and seen the world’s most powerful magnet
- Kit loves Battletech and will happily spend hours discussing the nuanced history of big stompy robots
- Kit grew up in Southampton, UK, and Hong Kong, China
- Kit once scored a goal against the men’s Danish national football team
- Kit won the Royal Society of Chemistry’s fancy dress competition by turning up as Princess Elsa from Frozen
- Kit briefly held the world record for the tallest tower of Lego
- Kit was the substitute on the University Challenge team that scored the lowest total in the show’s history
- Kit once got a job by relaying a really geeky chemistry joke hidden in the movie The Silence of the Lambs.
