The idea was radical for a university. "They just don't do this sort of thing," says Harpp. As a result, McGill's initiative is not merely "the best thing of its sort in southern Quebec," he stresses. "It's the only one in the world."

Not that other people don't believe they should exist. Indeed, in the August 26, 2002, issue of Chemical & Engineering News, Attila Pavlath, past president of the American Chemical Society, impresses upon his fellow scientists the need to be "continuously educating the general public about the benefits chemistry has brought and will continue to provide for our everyday life." He proposes a "Center for the Public Image of Chemistry," which would correct media misrepresentations of chemistry, follow new beneficial discoveries, create awareness about past inventions and discoveries, and serve as a reliable source for news media. In fact, Harpp points out happily, Pavlath is calling for something just like the OCS -- and, in September, he visited McGill to see exactly how such a thing is done.

This cookie didn't crumble. Joe Schwarcz performs a little magic in the lab.

For the three members of the OCS, their commitment to sharing the wonders of chemistry has brought a flood of recognition and awards, in addition to attention from peers such as Pavlath. In 1992 they shared the Royal Society of Canada's McNeil Medal for the Public Awareness of Science, and in 1993 the Beppo Award for Communicating Science to the Public, given by the Conseil de Développement du Loisir Scientifique du Québec. Fenster received the 1999 Raymond Gervais Award for Exceptional Contribution to Science Education, given by the Quebec Association of Science Teachers, while Harpp is the 2001 recipient of McGill University's Principal's Prize for Excellence in Teaching. A short selection of the accolades sent Schwarcz's way includes the American Chemical Society's prestigious Grady-Stack Award for Interpreting Chemistry for the Public in 1999, and in June 2002, an honorary doctorate from Athabaska University in Alberta, where he also gave the convocation address.

Throughout the various media activities and presentations, teaching remains a priority. Schwarcz, Fenster and Harpp collaborate on "The World of Chemistry" credit courses for students from across the University. As with everything else they do, it is a state-of-the-art pedagogical performance, and is not surprisingly one of the most popular electives on campus.

Says Fenster, "Students don't have a chance to get bored." Images come fast and furiously -- some hardcore scientific information, some whimsical digressions (on a class on acid rain, Harpp takes his students through a brief commentary of Magritte's umbrellas and other art works). In addition, the three intersperse and trade off classes, so students arrive not knowing which of their three professors will be teaching on any given day. And they are on the cutting edge of educational technology: all classes are recorded and posted on the Internet so that students wherever they are can follow the course. Indeed, anyone can, simply by going to http://cool.mcgill.ca.

As Fenster notes, "Students will register not only because it's an interesting course but also because it's got this important option. They're really happy with it." In addition, there are unexpected and delightful consequences of this technology, he points out. "We had a student in general chemistry -- another online course -- whose mother in Iran was going back to school and following the same course as her son in Montreal."

As the audience is broadening, so is the range of material the OCS presents. The team is slowly soliciting McGill professors from other areas of scientific endeavour -- physics, pathology and animal science so far. One day in the not-too-distant future, the OCS will subtly transform into something bigger: the Office for Science and Society. And it too will be the only one in the world.