In 2004, Whitby made the radical decision to train formally as a scientist, and completed a PhD in chemistry at Imperial College in London. The skills he acquired have come in useful at RGB Research Ltd, his London-based scientific research and communications business. For the past seven years he has collaborated closely with Theodore Gray designing and building elaborate periodic table displays and installations around the world.

Max Whitby is a filmmaker and scientist, and the founder of three successful digital media companies. He studied philosophy at Oxford University and then joined the BBC where he produced numerous Horizon and Nova documentaries. He has directed nearly a hundred films, mainly about science. Early on, he became involved in the BBC's pioneering Interactive Television Unit and headed collaboration with Apple in San Francisco. Subsequently he co-led a management buy-out of this BBC group, forming a media publishing company that achieved a successful IPO in 1995.