Professor Letcher was Professor of Chemistry, and Head of Department in South Africa (University of the Witwatersrand, Rhodes University and Natal) (1969 -2004). He has published over 300 papers on chemical thermodynamic topics in peer reviewed journals; and 100 papers in popular science and education journals. He has edited and written 28 books ranging from Future Energy Climate Change, Storing Energy, Wind Energy, Solar Energy, Managing Global Warming and Unraveling Environmental Disasters. He has been awarded gold medals by the South African Institute of Chemistry and the South African Association for the Advancement of Science. He is currently Emeritus Professor at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa and living in the United Kingdom.