Peter Atkins began his academic life as an undergraduate at the University of Leicester, and remained there for his PhD. He then went to the University of California, Los Angeles as a Harkness Fellow and returned to Oxford as lecturer in physical chemistry and fellow of Lincoln College in 1965, where he has remained ever since, now as professor of chemistry. He has received honorary doctorates from universities in the United Kingdom (Leicester), the Netherlands (Utrecht), and Russia (Mendeleyev University, Moscow) and has been a visiting professor at universities in France, Japan, China, New Zealand, and Israel.

His research was in the application of quantum mechanics to chemical problems and theoretical aspects of magnetic resonance, but with time he drifted into writing books, which now number about 55. The best known of these is Physical Chemistry, now in its eighth edition; that text became an instant best-seller when it was first published in 1978 and has remained that ever since; it is used throughout the world and has been translated into many languages. His other major textbooks include Inorganic Chemistry, Molecular Quantum Mechanics, Physical Chemistry for the Life Sciences, Elements of Physical Chemistry, and various flavours of General Chemistry. He also writes books on science for the general public, including The Periodic Kingdom, The Second Law, and Creation Revisited. One of these books, Molecules, was described as ‘one of the most beautiful chemistry books ever written’. A recent book for general audiences is Galileo’s Finger, which gives an account of his selection of the ten great ideas of science

In his spare time he is deeply involved in a variety of international activities, including (until the end of 2005) chairing the Committee on Chemistry Education of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry---the governing body of the subject---which has the task of improving chemical education worldwide, especially in developing countries, and encouraging and coordinating international efforts towards the public appreciation of chemistry. He also helps to organize the Malta series of conferences, which bring together chemists from the Middle East.