Previous Issues
Spring 2012
Be a kid again with chemistry comic books from the 1950s, which featured real-life superheroes Antoine Lavoisier and Marie Curie. Trace the wax and wane—and wax—of amphetamine use and acceptance in the United States. Follow the trail of a mysterious illness and the families and doctors that searched for a cure, and explore a new column by science writer Sam Kean. Plus treasures from CHF’s collections, book and museum reviews, interviews, and more.
Fall 2011/Winter 2012
Go to the movies—the first ones—with a history of celluloid and its cultural cache. Visit a time when chemistry was a drawing attraction on the lecture circuit and Humphry Davy its star. Explore the little-known story of Japanese-American chemists in America’s World War II internment camps, and the treatment they received there. Plus treasures from CHF’s collections, book and museum reviews, interviews, and more.
Summer 2011
Mark the 150th anniversary of the Civil War’s beginnings by exploring the massive wartime growth of the pharmacology industry. Jump forward a few decades to rapidly urbanizing New York, all the pollution that came with it, and the chemist assigned to find the culprits. Reflect on the controversial status of fluoride in the United States, meet Marie Curie, and learn the real value of silverware.
Spring 2011
Slip into the history of anesthesia, and come to with calorie counting’s scientific background. Look for the marks of Leonardo da Vinci in a recently discovered portrait. Continue the Italian journey with a review of the Museo Galileo in Florence. Rise to the occasion with the history of baking soda, and wonder at the intersection of chemistry and craft as artists tackle the periodic table.
Fall 2010
Travel back in time to uncover the real history of absinthe. Discover the connection between 1950s Soviet poster art and chemistry. Follow a particular plant sap across oceans as it links the world together in a 19th-century version of the Internet. Dip into a famous poisoning trial, find out why art and science make perfect bedfellows, and check out the comic-book history of medicine.
Summer 2010
Jump into the hot seat this issue with climate engineering. Focus on the strange and beautiful chemistry of early photography. And finally, step into the lives of two African American brothers who, despite suffering the effects of racism, made contributions to chemistry.
Spring 2010
This issue includes a look at the evolution of kids’ chemistry sets, the rise and fall of saccharin, and how foul-tasting cod-liver oil became a popular panacea in the late 19th century.
Fall 2009
From ancient underground oceans to spies (and their invisible ink) and on to 17th-century female pharmacists, chemistry goes everywhere.
Summer 2009
Drugs, energy, and lots of hot air. Check out the 2,000-year history of aspirin. Find out about the difficulties facing alternative energy. And discover the joys of balloonomania as 18th-century aeronauts took to the skies in hot-air and hydrogen powered balloons.
Spring 2009
It's all about issues, and plants. A 1828 murder trial revolving around arsenic raised early questions about scientific testimony. Pasteurization, developed 150 years ago, is still in the hot seat. And finally, a long, slow look at plants in motion.
Winter 2008/9
This issue moves from the mundane to the electrifying, from daily life on a Manhattan Project site to one of the 19th century's scientific superstars, Humphry Davy. And don't forget to taste the results of research on what makes a wine great.
Fall 2008
Whether it’s nylon’s role in World War II or the growth of American technological dominance in chemical engineering, this issue tackles chemistry’s role in making modernity.
Summer 2008
Before he discovered oxygen, chemist Joseph Priestley invented the first fizzy drink as a medicine for poor people. Today green chemistry reduces the waste byproducts in the making of medicines.
Spring 2008
This issue previews Making Modernity, the permanent exhibit of CHF’s new museum, presents an introduction to chemistry’s place in the history of science, and takes a look at Lavoisier’s lab as a work of art.
Winter 2007/8
Learn about the long history of aluminum, which was once a metal considered more valuable than gold. Follow art restoration efforts following Hurricane Katrina. And finally, meet Gertrude Elion—a prolific biochemist on a personal mission.
Fall 2007
The DuPont color revolution, the rise of chemically amplified photoresists, arabic alchemy, and more...