Periodic Tabloid

2012 is the 25th anniversary of CHF’s Beckman Center for the History of Chemistry. To celebrate the Beckman Center’s remarkable achievements and its many accomplished fellows, we will be profiling one former fellow each month over the course of the year. This month we’d like you to meet Jeremiah James.

The health risks of coffee have always been an issue, from the minor addictive qualities to the many contradictory studies on the excess risk for nasty maladies like heart disease, diabetes, and cancer. A new and massive research study may not completely lay the question to rest but it will be a source of solace for all those who can’t get going in the morning without their cup of java.

In June I attended the “The Age of Plastic,” a Smithsonian symposium which drew historians, conservators, artists, and industrial scientists all eager to discuss the implications of humanity’s growing reliance on synthetic materials.

When clever chemists come up with a new medicine there are two essential hurdles to clear. First, does it work, and second, is it safe?

Sometimes we take safety for granted. Today’s chemistry sets are filled with innocuous chemicals designed to prevent explosions; undergraduate science laboratories utilize cookbook style teaching that doesn’t encourage experimentation; and the stereotype of the scientist always includes protective glasses. Safety is taught as one of the foundations of modern chemistry and other sciences. It’s easy to forget that it wasn’t always so.

This week marks my annual trek to Lake Sebago in southern Maine.

Today Periodic Tabloid welcomes guest blogger Ashley Levine. Levine participated in the authentication of a shield Willard Libby used in research on carbon dating, which won him a 1960 Nobel Prize. The instrument was donated to CHF by the Department of Homeland Security in February 2012.

Exhibit installation is one of the most rewarding parts of the exhibition planning and creation process. You start with a blank canvas and design plans and watch it all move into place and unfold into something beautiful, something beyond what you could have imagined. I’ve often thought that a time-lapse video of an installation would be fun, but some snapshots from the week will have to do.

Philadelphia’s annual July 4th fireworks display on the Delaware River never fails to impress. The uniquely historic setting helps—in this city the American nation began its emergence onto the world stage. But the sizzling combination of colors and sounds from aerial fireworks, so much more astonishing than when I was a kid, set me thinking about the science of it all.

2012 is the 25th anniversary of CHF’s Beckman Center for the History of Chemistry. To celebrate the Beckman Center’s remarkable achievements and its many accomplished fellows, we will be profiling one former fellow each month over the course of the year. This month we’d like you to meet Matthew N. (Matt) Eisler.