Distillations | Science History Institute

In today's world, technology is seemingly ubiquitous. Chemistry plays a role in many technologies and may be obvious in some products, but is quite invisible in others.   SHOW CLOCK 00:00 Opening Credits 00:32 Introduction 01:39 Element of the Week: Uranium 04:13 Mystery Solved: Liquid Crystal Displays 06:51 Hydrogenation 10:59 Quote: Karl Compton 11:19 Closing Credits   CREDITS Special thanks to...

From antibiotics to chemotherapy, modern pharmaceuticals have transformed the experience of illness in the 20th century. Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, the founder and chairman of Biocon, Ltd., joins us for a discussion of how the global business of pharmaceuticals is changing the culture of science in India.   SHOW CLOCK 00:00 Opening Credits 00:31 Introduction 01:14 Element of the Week: Sulfur 02:44 A Con...

Color literally fills our world, and it plays a dominant role in how we perceive our surroundings. Scientists have been fascinated with the question of what color is ever since Isaac Newton discovered that white light contains the entire color spectrum.   SHOW CLOCK 00:00 Opening Credits 00:32 Introduction 01:09 Element of the Week: Chromium 02:54 Chemistry in Your Cupboard 05:12 Making Mauvine 10...

Please note: In today's episode we have included more mature content than a typical show. A Valentine for our listeners, this show is dedicated to the chemistry of love. In today's show, we explain why passion has always been associated with fire and how the stars can influence your love life.   SHOW CLOCK 00:00 Opening Credits 00:32 Introduction 00:54 Element of the Week: Fire 02:45 Mystery Solve...

Today's show takes a look at how scientists and educators are reinventing American science education. We chat with Tom Tritton, former president of Haverford College and CHF's new president and CEO, about how to introduce liberal arts students to science—and just as importantly, vice versa.   SHOW CLOCK 00:00 Opening Credits 00:32 Introduction 01:23 Interview with Tom Tritton 04:45 Element of the...

We don't normally think of computers, radios, and cell phones as products of chemistry, but none of these devices would be possible without specialized chemical manufacturing components and techniques. The integrated circuits at the heart of these tools depend on the unique electrical properties of certain inorganic elements such as silicon, germanium, and gallium.   SHOW CLOCK 00:00 Opening Credi...

Creating ink for both the printed and handwritten page, as well as preserving it, has a long history in which chemistry plays an integral part. Some historic inks have started to destroy the pages they're printed on. Other books and manuscripts have been damaged as a result of older conservation practices that place more emphasis on looks than historic accuracy.   SHOW CLOCK 00:00 Opening Credits...

Western medicine has always looked at the body as a system in balance. Today's show looks at how ideas about the body's equilibrium have changed over the past few centuries, from humoral theory to the discovery of vitamins and the role of trace elements in human health.   SHOW CLOCK 00:00 Opening Credits 00:32 Introduction 01:12 The Element of the Week: Black bile 02:52 Mystery Solved: Pellagra 05...

Chemistry has always been a science of measurement. In this episode, we look at several cases of how measurements affect scientific research and practice as well as daily life.   SHOW CLOCK 00:00 Opening Credits 00:32 Introduction 01:09 The Element of the Week: Platinum 03:34 Interview with Norm Holden, Brookhaven National Laboratories, on changing atomic weights 07:21 Stoichiometry: Featuring Rob...

This week, in honor of the holiday season, we're offering a toast to chemistry. We'll explain what makes champagne bubble, and why size matters when you're talking about carbonation.   SHOW CLOCK 00:00 Opening Credits 00:32 Introduction 01:03 Element of the Week: Phosphorus 02:48 The Science behind Champagne Bubbles 05:57 Quote of the Week: Graham Greene 06:16 Closing Credits   CREDITS Additional...

After the recent oil spills in the San Francisco Bay and the Kerch Strait, Distillations delves into the reality of cleaning up human-made messes.   SHOW CLOCK 00:00 Opening Credits 00:32 Introduction 00:55 Commentary by Jody Roberts 02:55 Element of the Week: Mercury 04:44 Cleaning up the San Francisco oil spill 09:12 Quote of the Week: Barry Commoner 09:44 Closing Credits   CREDITS Special thank...

How do scientists explain what they do to the larger public, and how can historians help? In this first episode of Distillations, we explore this question by looking at phlogiston, an obsolete element once thought to explain combustion.   SHOW CLOCK 00:00 Opening Credits 00:42 The periodic table 01:52 Element of the Week: Phlogiston 04:02 Interview with Paul Smith, director of lecture demonstratio...