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The History of Chemistry — Chemistry
The History of Chemistry

Chemistry is everywhere, and involves everything. But how did chemistry get to be what it is? I’m Steve Cohen, a chemist and writer, bringing you The History of Chemistry. This podcast explores the development of chemistry from prehistoric times to the present, including the people and societies who made chemistry what it is today. The History of Chemistry is for you, whether you hated chemistry in high school, or got a PhD in inorganic chemistry. We’ll explore how chemistry affected art, music, language, politics and vice-versa. Whether it’s ancient Greek philosophers, medieval alchemists, or modern laboratory apparatus, it’s all here. Don’t forget to support my series at https://www.patreon.com/thehistoryofchemistry !

Copyright: © 2023 Stephen Cohen

Latest Episodes:

156: Quantum Love Feb 02, 2025

We hear about the recent history of quantum computing to do quantum calculations on molecules. First we briefly discuss different types of computers. Then we talk about the kinds of calculations chemists want to do with quantum computers. We also learn about some ways chemists currently use to simplify the mathematics for quantum calculations.

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Support my podcast at https://www.patreon.com/thehistoryofchemistry
Tell me how your life relates to chemistry! E-mail me at steve@historyofchem.com
Get my book, O Mg! How Chemistry Came to Be, from World Scientific Publishing, https://www.worldscientific.com/worldscibooks/10.1142/12670#t=aboutBook

155: Sci-fi Chemistry Jan 26, 2025

In which we [cue theremin!] discuss how chemistry is presented in science-fiction stories. We start with Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein," move through Jules Verne and H.G. Wells, then to 20th-century writers like Isaac Asimov. Kurt Vonnegut, Fred Hoyle, H. Beam Piper, and many others. We talk of "Star Trek," "Battlestar Galactica," and David Foster Wallace.

Support the show

Support my podcast at https://www.patreon.com/thehistoryofchemistry
Tell me how your life relates to chemistry! E-mail me at steve@historyofchem.com
Get my book, O Mg! How Chemistry Came to Be, from World Scientific Publishing, https://www.worldscientific.com/worldscibooks/10.1142/12670#t=aboutBook

154: Tile by Tile Jan 19, 2025

We discuss the history of finding quasicrystals, those arrays of atoms that are like crystals--but aren't quite crystals. These are rarely talked about in undergraduate classes. We start with a purely mathematical question by David Hilbert, and move forward through the 1960s and 1970s, till actual quasicrystals were discovered in the 1980s. Then we reach the point where natural quasicrystals were found. Then we hear about some of their potential uses.

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Support my podcast at https://www.patreon.com/thehistoryofchemistry
Tell me how your life relates to chemistry! E-mail me at steve@historyofchem.com
Get my book, O Mg! How Chemistry Came to Be, from World Scientific Publishing, https://www.worldscientific.com/worldscibooks/10.1142/12670#t=aboutBook

153: Plastic Arts Jan 12, 2025

We finally return to polymers, but in a more ecological way. We learn about using wood waste to make plastics. We hear of how to make plastic naturally degrade in the environment, whether with bacteria, sunlight, zapping it with ions, or heating up without oxygen. We also learn of new methods to mine plastics for hydrogen as fuel.

Support the show

Support my podcast at https://www.patreon.com/thehistoryofchemistry
Tell me how your life relates to chemistry! E-mail me at steve@historyofchem.com
Get my book, O Mg! How Chemistry Came to Be, from World Scientific Publishing, https://www.worldscientific.com/worldscibooks/10.1142/12670#t=aboutBook

152: Built to Last Jan 05, 2025

We give a "solid foundation" to chemistry by recounting the history of concrete, starting with the earliest architectural use of lime around 10,000 years ago. We continue through ancient history and modern times with Roman concrete, the loss of its recipe, and (partial) rediscovery in the Renaissance. We continue to the present and the likely complete rediscovery of Roman concrete in the 21st century. We talk of the chemical reactions to make and set concrete, and its ecological problems. Finally we learn a bit about some efforts to make concrete a little more "green."

Support the show

Support my podcast at https://www.patreon.com/thehistoryofchemistry
Tell me how your life relates to chemistry! E-mail me at steve@historyofchem.com
Get my book, O Mg! How Chemistry Came to Be, from World Scientific Publishing, https://www.worldscientific.com/worldscibooks/10.1142/12670#t=aboutBook

151: No Bones about It Dec 29, 2024

This episode relates the history of the new field of "skeletal editing" of molecules. While there have been a few known reactions of this type since the very late 1800s, the general system was unknown till the 21st century, beginning with Marcos Suero. We add to the mix Mark Levin and Guangbin Dong, talk of what precisely this type of chemistry does, and relate the wish-list of chemists of all the wonderful things that scientists would like in skeletal editing.

Support the show

Support my podcast at https://www.patreon.com/thehistoryofchemistry
Tell me how your life relates to chemistry! E-mail me at steve@historyofchem.com
Get my book, O Mg! How Chemistry Came to Be, from World Scientific Publishing, https://www.worldscientific.com/worldscibooks/10.1142/12670#t=aboutBook

150: The Medium is the Message Dec 22, 2024

We reach the Big 1-5-0, in which I discuss the venerable history of mRNA vaccines, from the 1960s to the present, from a chemical point of view. We hear of transferring mRNA into cells, then transferring anti-viral mRNA into cells. There are a variety of mRNA vaccines under study--not merely COVID, but flu, RSV, and even cancer treatments. Patreon supporters may download a supplemental sheet with diagrams of some of the biochemical systems I describe.

Support the show

Support my podcast at https://www.patreon.com/thehistoryofchemistry
Tell me how your life relates to chemistry! E-mail me at steve@historyofchem.com
Get my book, O Mg! How Chemistry Came to Be, from World Scientific Publishing, https://www.worldscientific.com/worldscibooks/10.1142/12670#t=aboutBook

149: It's the Kosher Thing Dec 15, 2024

In this episode we touch on how chemistry has directly influenced religion. Our example is how knowledge of chemistry affected a rabbi's decision to allow a certain brand of carbonated beverage to claim that it is kosher, that is, fit to be ingested by Jews who follow traditional Jewish laws and customs regarding food.

Support the show

Support my podcast at https://www.patreon.com/thehistoryofchemistry
Tell me how your life relates to chemistry! E-mail me at steve@historyofchem.com
Get my book, O Mg! How Chemistry Came to Be, from World Scientific Publishing, https://www.worldscientific.com/worldscibooks/10.1142/12670#t=aboutBook

148: The New Electronics Dec 08, 2024

What if we could make flexible electronics for clothing or medical sensors? We examine the history of this quest from the 1990s onward, focusing on liquid-metal electronics. We explore what that means, the pros and cons, and how it might work. Then we talk about creating electronic components using wood (really!), which began in the 2010s, ranging from wooden batteries to wooden transistors.

Support the show

Support my podcast at https://www.patreon.com/thehistoryofchemistry
Tell me how your life relates to chemistry! E-mail me at steve@historyofchem.com
Get my book, O Mg! How Chemistry Came to Be, from World Scientific Publishing, https://www.worldscientific.com/worldscibooks/10.1142/12670#t=aboutBook

147: Good to the Last Drop Dec 01, 2024

The history of chemistry in water microdroplets is discussed. We start with the observation by R. Graham Cooks that certain chemical reactions went faster inside ultra-small droplets of liquid relative to beaker-sized amounts. We examine the years-long arguments between Dick Zare and Himanshu Mishra over peroxide formation in microdroplets. We talk a bit about some reasons why reactions may go differently in tiny drops versus bulk amounts, and counter-arguments.

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Support my podcast at https://www.patreon.com/thehistoryofchemistry
Tell me how your life relates to chemistry! E-mail me at steve@historyofchem.com
Get my book, O Mg! How Chemistry Came to Be, from World Scientific Publishing, https://www.worldscientific.com/worldscibooks/10.1142/12670#t=aboutBook

146: Electrical Switch Nov 24, 2024

In this episode we examine the history of non-lithium batteries. We talk of changing the anode material and cathode material, whether separately or together. This involves changing the graphite anode to silicon, changing to sulfur anodes, air-based cathodes, different solvent molecules to assist transport of lithium ions, and even calcium batteries. Finally we discuss the flow battery, invented way back in the 19th century, but being revived for batteries that can be stationary.

Support the show

Support my podcast at https://www.patreon.com/thehistoryofchemistry
Tell me how your life relates to chemistry! E-mail me at steve@historyofchem.com
Get my book, O Mg! How Chemistry Came to Be, from World Scientific Publishing, https://www.worldscientific.com/worldscibooks/10.1142/12670#t=aboutBook

145: State of the Art Nov 17, 2024

In which we learn about the beginnings of chemistry applied to art conservation, from the initial attempts by Edward Forbes, but especially when he hired Rutherford John Gettens. We discuss Harvard University's Pigment Collection, plus various analytical tools chemists use to examine art, both light-based and non-light-based. We talk of several institutions with strong chemical applications for art conservation. Finally we examine the problems of modern products--polymers--that need to be preserved, from toys to photographic film.

Support the show

Support my podcast at https://www.patreon.com/thehistoryofchemistry
Tell me how your life relates to chemistry! E-mail me at steve@historyofchem.com
Get my book, O Mg! How Chemistry Came to Be, from World Scientific Publishing, https://www.worldscientific.com/worldscibooks/10.1142/12670#t=aboutBook

Break Time Nov 03, 2024

Dear Listener,
I have been posting episodes weekly for two and a half years. I need a short break. I promise I will be back very soon. I have many more episodes already written and recorded for you. Please stay tuned. Until then….brave the elements!

Support the show

Support my podcast at https://www.patreon.com/thehistoryofchemistry
Tell me how your life relates to chemistry! E-mail me at steve@historyofchem.com
Get my book, O Mg! How Chemistry Came to Be, from World Scientific Publishing, https://www.worldscientific.com/worldscibooks/10.1142/12670#t=aboutBook

144: Rare as Hens' Teeth Oct 27, 2024

Here we explore the history of unusual and uncommon isotopes of known elements on the periodic table. We discuss the (almost) true statement that all isotopes of an element react the same. Then we reach inside the atomic nucleus and hear of theories to describe nuclear structure and--hence--stability of various isotopes, beginning with Dmitri Ivanenko's work. We learn of the best model, shell structure, and its failings that appeared in the 1980s. Then we talk about half-lives, and how short can a half-life be and still be an atom? How short can a half-live be and still be at least a nucleus? We learn of proton-rich isotopes. Then we hear of the practical value of such research.

Support the show

Support my podcast at https://www.patreon.com/thehistoryofchemistry
Tell me how your life relates to chemistry! E-mail me at steve@historyofchem.com
Get my book, O Mg! How Chemistry Came to Be, from World Scientific Publishing, https://www.worldscientific.com/worldscibooks/10.1142/12670#t=aboutBook

143: Queer as a Clockwork Orange Oct 20, 2024

In which I give a brief history of queer chemists. We talk of the rise of queer scientific associations, and the slog to acceptance of the Gay and Transgender Chemists and their Allies in the American Chemical Society, some current queer chemists around the world, and something of the challenge of queer chemists in the Britain.

Support the show

Support my podcast at https://www.patreon.com/thehistoryofchemistry
Tell me how your life relates to chemistry! E-mail me at steve@historyofchem.com
Get my book, O Mg! How Chemistry Came to Be, from World Scientific Publishing, https://www.worldscientific.com/worldscibooks/10.1142/12670#t=aboutBook

142: Molecular Valves Oct 13, 2024

Science-fiction writers (and scientists) have been promoting molecular transistors since the 1950s, and we explore the history of why that hasn't happened yet. We start with the parallel sci-fi writer (and biochemist) Isaac Asimov's "molecular valves" and physicist Arthur von Hippel's "molecular engineering." We talk of military projects that failed, and theoretical ideas that take a lot of engineering to make them work.

Support the show

Support my podcast at https://www.patreon.com/thehistoryofchemistry
Tell me how your life relates to chemistry! E-mail me at steve@historyofchem.com
Get my book, O Mg! How Chemistry Came to Be, from World Scientific Publishing, https://www.worldscientific.com/worldscibooks/10.1142/12670#t=aboutBook

141: Chemical Communications Oct 06, 2024

In this episode, I have a conversation with Professor David Perlmutter in the Communications Department at Texas Tech University, on the public's impressions of chemistry, and what value chemistry brings to the wider world.

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Support my podcast at https://www.patreon.com/thehistoryofchemistry
Tell me how your life relates to chemistry! E-mail me at steve@historyofchem.com
Get my book, O Mg! How Chemistry Came to Be, from World Scientific Publishing, https://www.worldscientific.com/worldscibooks/10.1142/12670#t=aboutBook

140: Chemical Paranoia Sep 29, 2024

We start with the first chemical conspiracy theory from 1996, "chemtrails." Then we move to another popular chemical hoax, "alkaline water" somehow being healthy for you. Related to that are the bizarre "hexagonal water" and water memory ideas. Other creative pseudochemical hoaxes are denial of global warming and the gasoline pill, creating fuel from non-fuel with merely a pill in your liquid. There is the fun cryogenically-cooled audio cable hoax (if you are into high-fidelity audio). There was the truly harmful radioactive bed scandal in Korea. Finally I offer some clues to detecting such hoaxes and scams.

Support the show

Support my podcast at https://www.patreon.com/thehistoryofchemistry
Tell me how your life relates to chemistry! E-mail me at steve@historyofchem.com
Get my book, O Mg! How Chemistry Came to Be, from World Scientific Publishing, https://www.worldscientific.com/worldscibooks/10.1142/12670#t=aboutBook

139: To the Max Sep 22, 2024

A new material, the MXene, discovered in 2010, is the topic of this episode. We hear of its creation and derivation at Drexel University in Philadelphia. Then we learn of ways to create single layers, variations in materials, and new methods of synthesis of MXenes. Finally, we discuss the practical uses of MXenes.

Support the show

Support my podcast at https://www.patreon.com/thehistoryofchemistry
Tell me how your life relates to chemistry! E-mail me at steve@historyofchem.com
Get my book, O Mg! How Chemistry Came to Be, from World Scientific Publishing, https://www.worldscientific.com/worldscibooks/10.1142/12670#t=aboutBook

138: Smells Like Teen Spirit Sep 15, 2024

We finally get to discuss what the term "aromatic compound" means in chemistry, from Michael Faraday's report in 1825 of a new organic compound (we call it benzene), to von Hofmann's first use in 1856 (without defining it) of the term "aromatic". We examine the ensuing controversies and definitions of "aromatic compound," how people modeled molecularly and diagrammatically what that meant, and current discussions over the word. My Patreon supporters may download a supplemental sheet with molecular structures of some aromatic compounds I mention in the episode.

Support the show

Support my podcast at https://www.patreon.com/thehistoryofchemistry
Tell me how your life relates to chemistry! E-mail me at steve@historyofchem.com
Get my book, O Mg! How Chemistry Came to Be, from World Scientific Publishing, https://www.worldscientific.com/worldscibooks/10.1142/12670#t=aboutBook

137: Light My Fire Sep 08, 2024

Aerogels, those feather-weight materials, have a century-old history. We begin with Samuel Kistler, the inventor of the first aerogels, and move forward through time with loss of interest in them, then revival of interest in the 1970s. We learn about gradual improvements in their fabrication over time. Then we talk of their fascinating properties, and then their uses.

Support the show

Support my podcast at https://www.patreon.com/thehistoryofchemistry
Tell me how your life relates to chemistry! E-mail me at steve@historyofchem.com
Get my book, O Mg! How Chemistry Came to Be, from World Scientific Publishing, https://www.worldscientific.com/worldscibooks/10.1142/12670#t=aboutBook

136: AI, Robot Sep 01, 2024

Artificial intelligence, or AI, can be applied to chemistry, too. Here we discuss a brief history of AI, especially for chemistry, beginning with Djerassi's DENDRAL program. We talk of the current problems in chemistry to which AI is being applied over the last couple of decades. We also examine what is not doable (yet) in chemistry with AI.

Support the show

Support my podcast at https://www.patreon.com/thehistoryofchemistry
Tell me how your life relates to chemistry! E-mail me at steve@historyofchem.com
Get my book, O Mg! How Chemistry Came to Be, from World Scientific Publishing, https://www.worldscientific.com/worldscibooks/10.1142/12670#t=aboutBook

135: Bond, Chemical Bond Aug 25, 2024

In which we consider what, really, is a chemical bond. Lewis and Langmuir promoted the idea that bonding was sharing of electron pairs. Then we hear about Slater, Hellman, and Ruedenberg's discussion of how covalent bonding works. Kossel and Lewis also introduced ionic bonding. Finally Drude and Lorentz offered metallic bonding. But there are more chemical bonds: the hydrogen bond, the halogen bond, the mechanical bond, the van der Waals force, multi-center bonds, and metallophilic bonds.

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Support my podcast at https://www.patreon.com/thehistoryofchemistry
Tell me how your life relates to chemistry! E-mail me at steve@historyofchem.com
Get my book, O Mg! How Chemistry Came to Be, from World Scientific Publishing, https://www.worldscientific.com/worldscibooks/10.1142/12670#t=aboutBook

134: Atto-boy! Aug 18, 2024

In which we talk about the fastest spectroscopy yet, attosecond spectroscopy, which can resolve electrons moving around atoms. The topic begins with Christian Spielmann in 1997, working to get shorter and shorter laser pulses, and continues with Ferenc Krausz. We discuss what you might be able to inspect using these short light pulses, such as how the shape of atomic orbitals oscillates after ionization, how you can change the opacity of a substance for a brief moment, and fluctuations of water structure.

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Support my podcast at https://www.patreon.com/thehistoryofchemistry
Tell me how your life relates to chemistry! E-mail me at steve@historyofchem.com
Get my book, O Mg! How Chemistry Came to Be, from World Scientific Publishing, https://www.worldscientific.com/worldscibooks/10.1142/12670#t=aboutBook

133: A Horse of a Different Color Aug 11, 2024

Instead of molecules that absorb light based on their molecular orbitals, this episode talks of nanostructures and their materials that refract light based on interference of light waves. We start with Robert Hooke who described this process in his book Micrographia. We continue through Isaac Newton and Lord Rayleigh. We discuss Eli Yablonovitch's photonic crystals. We mention various kinds of natural structural colorants in the living and non-living worlds, from minerals to insects to bacteria to plants. Then we list several attempts to synthesize structural colorants, and why they might prove useful.

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Support my podcast at https://www.patreon.com/thehistoryofchemistry
Tell me how your life relates to chemistry! E-mail me at steve@historyofchem.com
Get my book, O Mg! How Chemistry Came to Be, from World Scientific Publishing, https://www.worldscientific.com/worldscibooks/10.1142/12670#t=aboutBook

132: Name Dropping Aug 04, 2024

This episode concerns the phenomenon in organic chemistry of classifying a set of similar reactions by a single umbrella name. Most named reactions honor a person, but not always. We discuss the early history of named reactions from the 1870s onward. We then talk about the slant of named reactions towards white men, and away from other people, and even whether that can be a problem for minority and women chemists. Patreon supporters may download a supplemental sheet that sketches some of the reactions I mention in the episode.

Support the show

Support my podcast at https://www.patreon.com/thehistoryofchemistry
Tell me how your life relates to chemistry! E-mail me at steve@historyofchem.com
Get my book, O Mg! How Chemistry Came to Be, from World Scientific Publishing, https://www.worldscientific.com/worldscibooks/10.1142/12670#t=aboutBook

131: From Fluor to Ceiling Jul 28, 2024

Polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, seem to be ubiquitous now in the environment and the news. In this episode I delve into why chemists found these compounds so fascinating and useful. Then I discuss some history of how the world finally learned how dangerous these compounds can be if used and disposed of improperly. Finally I talk of some possible methods chemists are currently researching on how to remove PFAS from the environment.

Support the show

Support my podcast at https://www.patreon.com/thehistoryofchemistry
Tell me how your life relates to chemistry! E-mail me at steve@historyofchem.com
Get my book, O Mg! How Chemistry Came to Be, from World Scientific Publishing, https://www.worldscientific.com/worldscibooks/10.1142/12670#t=aboutBook

130: I Have an Axe to Grind Jul 21, 2024

Mechanochemistry, using purely mechanical processes to run a reaction, is much less known in the chemical world, but has been around since the ancient Greek Theophrastus described a mechanochemical process. We describe the history of mechanochemistry from then through its rediscovery by Michael Faraday, and the first systematic attempts to understand it by Mathew Carey Lea. He got into a dispute with Walthère Spring over "first rights" to publication. The 20th century was when mechanochemistry was examined in great detail, both in the Soviet Bloc and then by Westerners in the later part of the century. We talk of various topics in mechanochemistry.

Support the show

Support my podcast at https://www.patreon.com/thehistoryofchemistry
Tell me how your life relates to chemistry! E-mail me at steve@historyofchem.com
Get my book, O Mg! How Chemistry Came to Be, from World Scientific Publishing, https://www.worldscientific.com/worldscibooks/10.1142/12670#t=aboutBook

129: Sheets and Giggles Jul 14, 2024

In which we learn of the history of graphite, its molecular structure, and electrical properties. Then we discuss the isolation of thinner and thinner layers of graphite through the mid-to-late 20th century. The first isolation of a single atomic layer of graphite, called graphene, was accomplished in 2004 by Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov, which set off a new flurry of chemical research, much like the discovery of buckminsterfullerene two decades earlier. Then we discuss the special properties of graphene, and what practical applications graphene has.

Support the show

Support my podcast at https://www.patreon.com/thehistoryofchemistry
Tell me how your life relates to chemistry! E-mail me at steve@historyofchem.com
Get my book, O Mg! How Chemistry Came to Be, from World Scientific Publishing, https://www.worldscientific.com/worldscibooks/10.1142/12670#t=aboutBook

128: Heavy, Man, Heavy! Jul 07, 2024

With this episode, we complete our history of the discovery of the elements (up through writing this episode). We talk of elements 110 through 118, completing that row of the Periodic Table, and the various experiments that the major heavy-ion research facilities in Russia, Germany, the USA, and Japan, were doing. We begin to hear of collaboration between several groups as the difficulties of obtaining raw materials grow. The Joint Working Party, the final Decider for discovery, constantly intrudes to say "no, that's not good enough," till eventually it is.

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Support my podcast at https://www.patreon.com/thehistoryofchemistry
Tell me how your life relates to chemistry! E-mail me at steve@historyofchem.com
Get my book, O Mg! How Chemistry Came to Be, from World Scientific Publishing, https://www.worldscientific.com/worldscibooks/10.1142/12670#t=aboutBook

127: Black is Beautiful Jun 30, 2024

In which we discuss the entry of People of Color into chemistry, mostly in the USA. We start with the first Black to get an Ph.D. in Chemistry in the USA, St. Elmo Brady, and work forward through the 1940s through the 1960s. We discuss various organizations to assist people of color in chemistry (and other sciences), such as NOBCChE, SACNAS, AISES, and the Society for Asian Scientists and Engineers. We examine a similar problem in the United Kingdom which has no independent assistance organization for People of Colour.

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Tell me how your life relates to chemistry! E-mail me at steve@historyofchem.com
Get my book, O Mg! How Chemistry Came to Be, from World Scientific Publishing, https://www.worldscientific.com/worldscibooks/10.1142/12670#t=aboutBook

126: Run of the Mill Jun 23, 2024

In which we talk of a huge problem currently plaguing chemistry (and science in general), the "paper mill," in which researchers pay to get their name attached to others' publications, or they write fraudulent publications and pay to get them in print. We hear of a Chinese firm discovered to be such a broker, possible reasons why chemists would fake research, and specific examples of chemical fraud. One insidious problem is faked crystallographic data on molecular structures, uploaded to repositories. Finally we learn of some ways to identify paper mills.

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Tell me how your life relates to chemistry! E-mail me at steve@historyofchem.com
Get my book, O Mg! How Chemistry Came to Be, from World Scientific Publishing, https://www.worldscientific.com/worldscibooks/10.1142/12670#t=aboutBook

125: Das Model Jun 16, 2024

Here we discuss all sorts of kits chemists use to build models of different molecules. We start with the pre-molecule set built for John Dalton, and then we hear of August von Hofmann's set for lecture demonstrations. We talk of John Dewar's brass constructions, and then to Tinkertoy-like setups in the 20th century. Plastic first appears in molecular-model kits by the 1950s, and we continue through the later 20th-century. If you become a Patreon subscriber, you may download a supplemental sheet which shows some 20th-century kits, including a lecture demonstration kit I don't discuss in this episode!

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Tell me how your life relates to chemistry! E-mail me at steve@historyofchem.com
Get my book, O Mg! How Chemistry Came to Be, from World Scientific Publishing, https://www.worldscientific.com/worldscibooks/10.1142/12670#t=aboutBook

124: Lumen Large Jun 09, 2024

Our history of LEDs continues with the entry of LEDs into commercial lighting. We talk of different ways to get white light out of LEDs, and materials for white-light LEDs. We briefly discuss color temperature because there are different kinds of white. Then we hear of the publication of an article in 2000 that consolidated thinking about home usage for LEDs, and why LEDs have advantages over other lamps. We mention ways geometrically to optimize LED construction to maximize the amount of light emitted. Finally, we note the development of second-generation emitting compounds in red, green, and blue that pushed LEDs over the finish line to make them practical for home usage.

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Tell me how your life relates to chemistry! E-mail me at steve@historyofchem.com
Get my book, O Mg! How Chemistry Came to Be, from World Scientific Publishing, https://www.worldscientific.com/worldscibooks/10.1142/12670#t=aboutBook

123: Setting the Ground Rules Jun 02, 2024

This episode gives a basic review of geochemistry, starting with pioneers such as Christian Friedrich Schönbein, Frank Wigglesworth Clarke, and thence into the 20th century, especially Victor Goldschmidt. We hear about the development of geochemical societies around the world, then we talk about various subfields of geochemistry. The question of "what's inside the Earth" is still a very active one, and we discuss ways to simulate the pressure inside the Earth, and likely constituents of the Earth's core.

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Tell me how your life relates to chemistry! E-mail me at steve@historyofchem.com
Get my book, O Mg! How Chemistry Came to Be, from World Scientific Publishing, https://www.worldscientific.com/worldscibooks/10.1142/12670#t=aboutBook

122: Catch the 'Wave May 26, 2024

Even though the potential for using microwaves to do chemistry was there since 1946, it wasn't until the late 1970s that the first use of microwaves in the chemistry laboratory appeared. This episode covers the development of microwave chemistry from moisture analyzers to significant study of reactions, and then finally laboratory-standard microwave ovens appeared. We mention the controversy between Gregory Dudley and Oliver Kappe as to whether there were some special properties of microwaves that made reactions speed up. We talk of the reasons that chemists now preferentially zap their reactants with microwaves over traditional chemical methods.

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Tell me how your life relates to chemistry! E-mail me at steve@historyofchem.com
Get my book, O Mg! How Chemistry Came to Be, from World Scientific Publishing, https://www.worldscientific.com/worldscibooks/10.1142/12670#t=aboutBook

121: Let the Sun Shine in May 19, 2024

We talk about perovskite minerals and compounds, their discovery, and general crystal structure. Then we learn about how researchers gradually learned about their interesting electrical and optical properties. We hear of Tsutomu Miyasaka’s paper about building a solar cell using these perovskite minerals, and the sudden interest in making commercial, practical solar cells from perovskites. We delve briefly into the electronic orbitals in perovskites, the engineering aspects of building photovoltaic cells with them, and how their efficiency in generating electrical current has soared since they were first invented.

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Support my podcast at https://www.patreon.com/thehistoryofchemistry
Tell me how your life relates to chemistry! E-mail me at steve@historyofchem.com
Get my book, O Mg! How Chemistry Came to Be, from World Scientific Publishing, https://www.worldscientific.com/worldscibooks/10.1142/12670#t=aboutBook

120: Snap Judgement May 12, 2024

Click Chemistry came about as several researchers came to similar conclusions in parallel, but from different angles: Barry Sharpless, Morten Meldahl, and Carolyn Bertozzi. We hear about their research goals in the 1990s and early 2000s: to snap together smaller molecules in a reliable way, perhaps with pharmaceutical or biological experiments and results in mind. We learn of Sharpless's goals for Click Chemistry, which sometimes overlap with Green Chemistry.

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119: Tiny but Mighty May 05, 2024

We reach the point in our chemical history when microplastics were first recognized as a pervasive environmental pollutant. Visible plastic bits were first found by Edward Carpenter and K.L. Smith in the ocean back in 1972, and such detritus was confirmed all over the world's oceans over the next decades, resulting in the name "Eastern Garbage Patch" by 1997. Yet only in 2004 did Richard Thompson first study microscopic bits of plastic. In this episode we define a microplastic, and discuss various sources for microplastics. We talk of potential harm they do.

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118: Hold Tight, Stick Tight Apr 28, 2024

This episode deals with glues and adhesives, from prehistoric times to the present. We talk of prehistoric glue from tree saps, petroleum tar, animal glues, casein glues, albumin glues, and starch glues, all known in ancient times. Medieval knowledge added fish glue, and by the Renaissance we start industrial-scale adhesive factories. The 19th century brought rubber cement, mucilage, and library paste. We talk of 20th-century products like white glue, epoxy, polyurethane glues, super glues, glue guns, glue sticks, and even Post-It Notes.

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117: The Set Table Apr 21, 2024

The Periodic Table we've all seen in chemistry books and classes is not always the way it was, nor the way it must always be. In this episode we explore all kinds of periodic representations of the properties of elements, from Mendeleev's first published table in 1869, through wide and narrow tables, and spirals. There are even three-dimensional "tables," from helices to submarines, corners of walls, globes, pyramids, and tiles. My Patreon subscribers can download a supplemental sheet with a few samples of periodic tables which I discuss.

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116: Open Frame of Mind Apr 14, 2024

We introduce the first chemical construction set in chemistry (besides natural proteins, starches, sugars, etc.), the metal-organic framework. A DuPont employee, E.A. Tomic, invented this type of molecule in the 1960s, but it took until Omar Yaghi's research in 1990s until chemists realized the value of metal-organic frameworks. We discuss the experiments and results leading up to Yaghi's work, what these frameworks are, their value in science and industry, and their nearly infinite flexibility to create porous materials.

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115: Reach for the Stars Apr 07, 2024

In this episode we talk about astrochemistry, which began in the 20th century. The first detection of molecules outside our solar system began with Theodore Dunham, which was finally recognized as a molecule in 1940. We talk of Gerhard Herzberg, Polydore Swings, and Dirk ter Haar, then meet Lyman Spitzer. Radio astronomy then became important in the 1960s and 1970s, allowing astrochemists to identify molecules based on quantum transitions at longer and longer wavelengths. We discuss the limited number of important elements for astrochemistry; the ever-growing number, size, and complexity of interstellar molecules detected, some ways they are formed, and end with some planetary chemistry.

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114: We Can Work It Out Mar 31, 2024

Here we talk of the first real molecular machines of the 1990s, and the chemistry advances required to invent them. We define what such a machine is, and reach back into organic chemistry of the 1940s and 1950s for "conformational analysis." We recall the Bell Labs chemists Harry Frisch and Edel Wasserman, and their foundation of chemical topology. Gottfried Schill, Arthur Lüttringhaus, plus Ian and Shuyen Harrison, synthesized interesting mechanical compounds. Through the 1970s and 1980s, chemists continued to advance molecular components of machines, and by the 1990s, the first true molecular machines (aside from existing biomolecules) were created.

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113: Ready Set Go Mar 24, 2024

On a topic that's a little different, here is an episode about chemistry sets. We explore their origins in Germany as portable laboratories in the late 1600s. Johann Fredrich August Göttling's portable laboratory might be considered the first true chemistry set as an amusement rather than solely a carry-along lab. Our story continues in Britain through the 19th century, and then in the USA during the 20th century. We examine the sexism in marketing of these kits, and the demise of the chemistry set in the later 20th century as a result of legal liabilities. My Patreon supporters can download a supplemental sheet with images of some of the topics I describe.

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112: Connect the Dots Mar 17, 2024

Here we discuss the discovery of quantum dots, those small particles hovering between molecule-size and macroscopic-size. We begin with physicist and refugee from Nazis Herbert Fröhlich, whose predictions led the way in the 1930s. Among the researchers we encounter are Aleksei Yekimov, Louis Brus, and Moungi Bawendi. Quantum dots were real, but could they be made reliably of specific sizes? The answer turned out to be yes, but you have to carefully control the conditions to make them.

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111: O Say Can You See Mar 10, 2024

We return to the history of light-emitting diodes, LEDs, but now talk about the development of organic versions, OLEDs, from the secret work of Roger Partridge to the now classic publication by Ching Tang and Steven Vanslyke at Eastman Kodak. Through the 1990s, more and more colors were added, so by the mid-1990s, the first commercial OLED product was marketed by electronics firm Pioneer. We also distinguish between passive and active matrix OLEDs.

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110: Rattle My Cage Mar 03, 2024

After chemists discovered the soccer-ball molecule, buckminsterfullerene, and its siblings--could they do chemistry with it? We explore putting atoms and small molecules inside the ball. Then we discuss attaching atoms and molecules on the outside of the cage itself. We talk of futuristic uses for fullerene chemistry. We even mention sliding fullerenes inside a single-wall carbon nanotube.

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109: Bon Appetit Feb 25, 2024

This episode deals with the field of molecular gastronomy, founded in the late 1980s and grew in the 1990s, under the leadership of Nicholas Kurti and Hervé This. We explore what molecular gastronomy researches and promotes, its goals, but also its controversies.

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108: Fuel Transformation Feb 18, 2024

In which I discuss my Dear Wife's doctoral dissertation, which deals with converting hydrocarbon fuel (say, methane) into a liquid (say, methanol) for much easier transportation from source to need. We dig into many details of experimentation, laboratory equipment, and even an unexpected side reaction. This was and is a popular topic among organometallic chemists since the 1980s.

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107: Transfermium Wars Feb 11, 2024

We now look at the controversies over discovery and rights to naming elements 104 to 109 in the 1960s to 1990s. The various laboratories included University of California--Berkeley, JINR at Dubna, and GSI Helmholtz Centre for Heavy Ion Research in Darmstadt. There were arguments and spats over who discovered what, and what constitutes discovery. Eventually a Transfermium Working Group of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry, along with the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics, came to referee the battle--and even that caused more problems.

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106: Natural Order of Things Feb 04, 2024

Through the 1960s up to the 1990s scientists learned how to read DNA's sequence of bases, first by handfuls, then faster and faster. Ray Wu learned to determine the order of a dozen or so bases in the late 1960s. The mid-70's brought Fred Sanger and Alan Coulson's "plus and minus" method, and the first viral DNA sequenced. We then talk of Maxam and Gilbert's method, Kary Mullis' polymerase chain reaction, and Alex Jeffrey's discovery of repetitive sequences. Semi-automatic sequencing arrived in the mid-1980s, and then the Human Genome Project was planned and begun by 1990.

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105: Safety First Jan 28, 2024

We talk of safety equipment in chemical laboratories: goggles, rubber (or non-rubber) gloves, fume hoods (or cupboards), eyewash stations, and lab coats. From there, we move to labeling of chemical containers, the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals. Finally, we talk about the terrible case of Professor Karen Wetterhahn at Dartmouth, and the agony she underwent after being inadvertently poisoned in the laboratory.

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104: Inside Job Jan 21, 2024

This time we focus on how nuclear magnetic resonance evolved into a way to peer inside a living creature, that is, magnetic resonance imaging, or MRI. We start with early researchers from the 1950s and 1960s, Jay Singer, Erik Odeblad, and Raymond Damadian. Damadian actually patented a primitive method of MRI, but it didn't catch on. We then hear about Paul Lauterbur's work, then a race between Peter Mansfield and Ray Damadian to create the first live human image and full-body scan in the 1970s. The 1980s and 1990s saw the development of "contrast agents", mostly gadolinium compounds, to improve the image.

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103: It's Not Easy Being Green Jan 14, 2024

We learn about Green Chemistry, which began with the United States Pollution Prevention Act in 1990, and the Chemistry Council in the European Union's "Chemistry for a Cleaner World" at about the same time. A UN Treaty on moving hazardous wastes came into force in 1992, and then in the late 1990s, a series of formal principles for Green Chemistry were published. We talk about these twelve principles, and what they mean in practice.

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102: Chemical Philosophy Jan 07, 2024

This episode takes a bit of a sidestep: instead of actual chemistry, we discuss the philosophy of chemistry, which underwent a revival in the 1980s and 1990s. We talk about the "ultimate units" of chemistry, what exactly does chemistry study, how chemistry is different from other sciences, what is a chemical bond, and what is a reaction mechanism. All of these topics are argued about by chemical philosophers--even as chemists go blithely on, doing whatever it is chemists do.

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101: Totally Tubular Dec 31, 2023

We examine the history of carbon nanotubes, starting with Sumio Iijima in 1990. Or maybe Howard Tennett. Or maybe A.M. Nesterenko, N.F. Kolesnik, Yu.S. Akhmatov, V.I. Suhomlin, and O.V. Prilutskii, or maybe John Abrahamson, Peter Wiles, and Brian Rhoades. Or maybe others. Whoever it was, we then look at what mechanical, electrical, and optical properties are so interesting about nanotubes, then some practical applications for them.

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100: I Have the Power Dec 24, 2023

To celebrate our 100th episode, we have an extended discussion on the history of lithium batteries, which power so many of our portable electronic devices today. Our story starts in 1800, when Jozé Bonifácio de Andralda e Silva found a new mineral near Stockholm, which he called petalite. Lithium batteries, however only began with the great American chemist, Gilbert Lewis, in 1913. We follow the trail through the 1960s and 1970s in Japan, Britain, Germany, and the United States, and the multiple inventors, each devising a piece of the modern lithium battery. Become a Patreon supporter, and download a supplemental sheet with several diagrams for your edification.

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99: Lite Brite Dec 17, 2023

This episode covers the developments in inorganic LEDS in the 1980s and 1990s, including higher-brightness LEDs suitable for car brake lights and traffic signals, and especially practical blue LEDs. We discuss the first white LEDs as well.

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98: Surface Chemistry Dec 10, 2023

For this episode I discuss my doctoral dissertation as an example of real research into surface chemistry in the early 1990s. We examine the structure of a germanium surface, and then see what happens when we add small molecules to that surface. I talk about the special apparatus required to observe a clean germanium surface, as well as what it means to get a Ph.D. in chemistry. Download a supplemental sheet with some images showing structures I discuss in this episode.

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97: Moving Atoms Dec 03, 2023

Richard Feynman gave a lecture in 1959 on atomic ultraminiaturization. We learn about Donald Eigler and Erhard Schweizer's work in 1989 to make that dream come true: moving individual atoms in a deliberate way on a surface. Then we hear of Eigler, Michael Crommie, and Christopher Lutz's continuation of this process to show quantum effects. Wilson Ho went even further and was able to detect spectroscopic differences between individual molecules. We advance to hear of seeing electron orbitals, and then the smallest movie set ever.

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96: Journal Square Nov 26, 2023

We hear of the evolution of chemical communications, how chemists tell other chemists of their research, starting with Henry Oldenburg in 1665, who published summaries of Royal Society meetings. We learn of the first truly chemical journals in the 1780s, the splitting into chemical subdivisions, private chemical journals, and then journals published by chemical societies. Finally, we also talk about what constitutes a professional chemical communication, and the types of chemical communications.

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95: Plastic Love Nov 19, 2023

New polymers were still being invented or commercialized in the 1980s, so we mention some of the most important 1980s polymers: biaxially-oriented polypropylene; high-modulus polyethylene (trade name Dyneema); microfiber (Ultrasuede or Alcantara); poly(p-phenylene-2,6-benzobisoxazole) (Zylon); Technora; Vectran; and Zenite. We discuss some of the properties that make these polymers so attractive. If you become my sponsor on Patreon, you can download a supplemental sheet with molecular structures of some of these polymers.

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94: Grape Expectations Nov 12, 2023

We hear about the chemistry behind winemaking, especially the discovery that a fungus generates the alcohol. Then there are the other residues from the grapes that help to shape a wine's special flavor. The final component we talk about is the sugar that feeds the yeast, but also adds a sweetness to the wine. We also hear about two serious European scandals that rocked wineries in Austria and Italy in the mid-1980s.

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93: Resistance is Futile Nov 05, 2023

We hear of events from the early 19th century onward that led to the discovery of high-temperature superconductivity in the 1980s. Surprisingly, it all started with Humphry Davy and his assistant, Michael Faraday, and continued with a competition between Kamerlingh Onnes and James Dewar over who could liquefy hydrogen first. After that, Onnes turned to the idea of finding evidence for condensation of newly discovered electron fluids. The competition in the 1980s for high-temperature superconductivity was a race between Paul Chu in Houston, IBM Zürich, and Bell Labs.

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92: Infinite Loop Oct 29, 2023

Recycling became common in the 1980s, and we learn why. We also learn of the seven different types of plastic in the recycling world, why they need to be sorted by type for recycling, and how (and even if) they can be recycled.

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91: In the Air Tonight Oct 22, 2023

Atmospheric environmental chemistry in the 1980s is today's topic. First is Jonathan Shanklin and his discovery of the ozone hole, which led in a very short time to the Montreal Protocol, perhaps the most successful international treaty ever. Second we hear about Guy Callendar's and Charles Keeling's research showing how carbon dioxide we put into the atmosphere causes global warming--and how major petrochemical companies lied and gaslit the public in the 1980s about it.

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90: Computerwelt Oct 15, 2023

This episode focuses on the entry of computers into the chemical laboratory, which began in tiny doses in 1948, but expanded in the 1960s with the LINC at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a forerunner of the PC. We talk also of the growth of computers used to calculate and model molecular structures, from the 1950s use with x ray crystallography and some ab initio calculations, through semi-empirical calculations in 1965 and early computer graphics. The 1960s saw the introduction of the Cooley-Tukey fast-Fourier transform (FFT) for quick spectroscopy, which led to dedicated FFT spectrometers by the 1970s. Microcomputers became a part of computer laboratories in the 1970s and 1980s, from electrochemistry to analytical chemistry, and the very beginnings of computerized automation. And thus began the computer revolution in the laboratory in the 1980s.

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89: Pathological Science Oct 08, 2023

This episode is all about chemical examples of "pathological science," as Irving Langmuir called it, "the science of things that aren't so." We hear of the six symptoms of pathological science, then we learn of three examples of pathological chemistry: polywater, promoted by Boris Deryagin, from the 1960s and early 1970s; memory water, promoted by Jacques Benveniste, from 1988, and its close cousin, homeopathy; and finally cold fusion, promoted by Martin Fleischmann and Stanley Pons in 1989.

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88: Contamination Oct 01, 2023

We continue on the path of environmental chemistry, with several egregious examples of pollution in the 1980s. First is the story of Times Beach, Missouri, USA, its contamination, discovery, and evacuation. Second is the Union Carbide plant in Bhopal, India, which had structural weaknesses leading to an explosion blanketing the city with toxic gas. Third is the explosion of the nuclear reactor in Chornobyl, Ukraine, and the spread of radioactive elements across the area and much of northern Europe.

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87: Charge It Up Sep 24, 2023

We hear of an unusual idea that appeared in the 1970s: that metals can become anions and gain electrons! These are the alkalide compounds, first discovered in 1974. Such compounds are anions of the alkaline metals, often combined with crown ethers. The second, related topic in this episode is that of solvated electrons, where electrons sit in the spaces between molecules. These compounds are the electrides. Finally, we touch on ionic liquids--not water, but liquids that are primarily ionic in nature, at or near room temperature. All of these topics ramped up in research popularity in the 1970s and 1980s. Become a Patreon supporter, so you may download a supplemental sheet with diagrams of some of the molecules I discuss in this episode.

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86: Turnabout is Fair Play Sep 17, 2023

We turn to an oddity in the world of chemistry that became more widely known in the 1980s: non-equilibrium thermodynamics, and especially oscillating reactions. A couple of examples were known in the 19th century, but the first model for how such reactions might go was created by Alfred Lotka and Vito Volterra early in the 20th century. We hear about Liebhafsky and Bray's oscillating reaction, and then Boris Belousov's reaction, studied further by Anatol Zhabotinsky. Around this time, Ilya Prigogine also started to research the general topic of non-equilibrium thermodynamics, which helps to explain such oscillating reactions. By the 1960s and 1970s, scientists began explaining the Belousov-Zhabotinsky reaction via the Brusselator, FKN, and Oregonator mechanisms. We end with the first attempts to devise new oscillating reactions, and how these reactions help to explain fingerprints, zebra stripes, leopard spots, and other biological structures. Become my Patreon supporter, and download a supplemental sheet with diagrams of some of the topics I discuss.

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85: Great Balls of Fire Sep 10, 2023

A new form, or allotrope, of the element carbon was discovered in the 1980s, and we hear of the story, centering on three chemistry professors: Harry Kroto, Richard Smalley, and Robert Curl. But they couldn't definitively show the molecular structure of their discovery, though they believed strongly, with circumstantial evidence, that it was soccerball-shaped. A few years later, Wolfgang Krätschmer and American Donald Huffman learned how to make significant quantities of this molecule, and showed that the trio were right.

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84: Tunnel Vision Sep 03, 2023

We explore the story of a new way to "see" atoms on surfaces invented in the 1970s and 1980s, scanning probe microscopy. We hear of Gerd Binnig, and Heinrich Rohrer, at the Zürich branch of IBM research, and how they came up with the scanning tunneling microscope in the late 1970s. Then in the mid-1980s, more IBM researchers invented a sibling technique, atomic force microscopy, which is good for non-conducting surfaces. Both techniques caused quite a splash in the scientific world, and made people wonder what it is they were seeing using these tools, and is it really a form of "seeing"?

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83: Measure Twice, Cut Once Aug 27, 2023

We talk about the development of the metric system, the units chemists use in their laboratories and calculations. We start with John Wilkins and Gabriel Mouton, who were ahead of their time in proposing a universal system of units. After the French Revolution, Talleyrand sponsored a logical set of units for France, which became the metric system. We talk about the early units of metric measurement, in both space and time. The we talk of its expansion across Europe and the world in the 19th and 20th centuries, and new official units added to make measurements and observations more consistent. We end with a brief mention of several non-metric or non-official units chemists still use.

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82: Diamond in the Rough Aug 20, 2023

In this episode we talk about the second successful method to make laboratory diamonds, chemical vapor deposition, invented by William Eversole of Union Carbide in 1958. The method was slowly improved over the 1960s and 70s in the USA and Soviet Union, but took a huge leap forward with S. Matsumoto’s research in Japan in the early 1980s. Then we discuss uses for CVD diamonds, and details of making gem-quality CVD diamonds.

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81: Cover Story Aug 13, 2023

We talk of historical developments in surface chemistry of the 1960s and 1970s. With new ultra-high-vacuum chambers now available, chemists began to study the surface structure of metals, oxides, and other salts, plus semiconductors. They discovered surface relaxation and reconstruction. They employed techniques such as electron-diffraction and photoelectron spectroscopy, along with Auger-electron experiments and thermal desorption, and total internal reflection of light--all of which are explained in this episode. We end with a brief discussion of two luminaries of the field, Gabor Somorjai and Gerhard Ertl. My Patreon supporters can download a supplemental sheet to help diagram ideas mentioned.

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80: I Call Your Name Aug 06, 2023

We discuss the origins of names in organic chemistry, starting the with chaos when Lavoisier and friends didn't create such a terminology in the 1780s. August Hofmann, in the 1860s, began to systematize things for his students, but it didn't take hold. Charles Friedel, though, got an International Congress of Chemistry in 1889 to consider the problem, which created an 1892 Geneva Nomenclature Congress. Finally some sense began to creep into organic nomenclature, and this eventually led to IUPAC after World War I.

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79: Suit Yourself Jul 30, 2023

Rather than talk about how chemistry changed society, this episode discusses the inverse: how society changed chemistry, and for the better. We talk much about the 1973 sex-discrimination lawsuit which Dr. Shyamala Rajender filed against the University of Minnesota and its chemistry department, and how sexism pervaded many academic chemistry departments throughout the USA, even for decades thereafter.

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78: Guiding Light Jul 23, 2023

We learn about the development of the LED, the rival display technology to the LCD. We start with Henry Round's 1907 observations, "Losev light" as per Oleg Losev in the 1920s and the patent he obtained, Rubin Braunstein of RCA in the 1950s, Kurt Lehovec's model of LEDs in the 1950s, then Robert Biard and Gary Pittman at Texas Instruments in 1961. The first inarguable LED was built by Nick Holonyak and friends at General Electric in 1962. We hear of improvements in technology through the 1960s and early 1970s, leading to LED watches and calculators--but not full-color displays or tail-lamps for cars.

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77: Moody Blues Jul 16, 2023

This episode covers the 1960s history of RCA's work on liquid crystal displays, their version of a TV screen one can hang on a wall. We begin with Richard Williams in 1962, who discovered that liquid crystals get a "crinkled" look under a microscope when you apply voltage. George Heilmeier then discovered a guest-host effect with liquid crystals, and even more, found dynamic scattering. RCA showed off its display prototypes to big fanfare in 1968. James Fergason, an independent researcher, patented a way to show temperature with liquid crystal colors, then invented the twisted-nematic field-effect liquid-crystal display in 1968. With Fergason's method, by the 1970s, LCD watches and calculators were being mass-produced. Finally, in 1977, Sivaramakrishna Chandrasekhar discovers a new type of liquid crystal: columnal liquid crystals.

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76: The Final Frontier Jul 09, 2023

We hear about such chemistry-related inventions NASA was involved in during the 1960s and 1970s: Mylar blankets, lithium hydroxide to absorb carbon dioxide, silicate anticorrosion coatings, memory foam, scratch-resistant coatings for lenses, spectroscopic water-quality monitoring, special rubber for tires, antifogging spray for optics, non-flammable cloth, and special tiles for spacecraft re-entry. We learn a bit of how they were made or invented, and why.

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75: Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology) Jul 02, 2023

The 1970s brought more environmental concerns: Acid rain, as described by Gene Likens, Herbert Bormann, and Noye Johnson in the USA, and Svante Odén in Europe. Their combined effort brought forth international cooperation to protect agriculture, architecture, and culture. Sherwood Roland and Mario Molina discovered that chlorofluorocarbons, the magic chemicals for refrigeration since the 1920s, would destroy the ozone layer in the atmosphere. Then we mention lead paints, and their hazards. Finally we talk about the Love Canal disaster in New York State, which permanently tainted the chemical industry.

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74: Laser Squad Jun 25, 2023

This episode shows the give and take between applied physics, that is, the development of the laser, and chemistry, that is, media in which laser action can take place. We start with Albert Einstein's idea, Valentin Fabrikant's doctoral dissertation and (initially failing) patent. But simultaneously Charles Townes came up with a maser, producing microwaves, and his brother-in-law, Arthur Schawlow's idea of extending the maser into the visible wavelengths, overlapping with Gordon Gould's idea of a laser (and the word laser). We then shift to Richard Zare's work with lasers in chemistry experiments, followed by several inventors of the chemical dye laser. We speak of laser-induced spectroscopy and van der Waals complexes of molecules.

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73: Living in the Plastic Age Jun 18, 2023

In this episode we hear of developments in the 1970s concerning polymers such as polycarbonate, Hytrel®, PET, polyacetals, Vamac®, PEEK, fluoroelastomers, use of metallocenes to fine-tune properties of polyethylene, and conductive polymers, both inorganic and organic.

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72: What's in a Name? Jun 11, 2023

We see how naming inorganic compounds has evolved from the early 18th century to now. Initially chemists named compounds by their properties or origin. Then Lavoisier and friends created a new naming scheme based on elemental constituents, but this scheme didn't allow for multiple compounds with different amounts of elements. A variety of schemes appeared in the 19th and early 20th centuries, and this episode talks a bit about who and how these systems came about, and what is used now.

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71: Toxic Relationship Jun 04, 2023

We review the other three of Japan's Big Four Pollution Diseases: Minamata disease, discovered in the 1950s and understood by the late 1960s; Yokkaichi asthma, discovered around 1960 and mostly understood by the early 1970s; and Niigata Minamata disease, discovered in 1965 and resolved by 1971. All four were created by corporations polluting the local environment, and then denying their activities. Mercury pollution is discussed in detail. We hear from special guest Dr. Myra Weiner, who discusses the principles of toxicology.

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70: Go with the Flow May 28, 2023

We hear about the discovery of liquid crystals by Friedrich Reinitzer in 1888, through Georges Friedel's compendium in 1922 describing main types of liquid crystals. Around that time the first electromagnetic properties of liquid crystals were described by M. Jezewski, and further researched by W. Kast, Vsevolod Frederiks, and A. Repiewa. The first use of these properties was patented by the Levin brothers in 1936. A revival of research into liquid crystals began post-World War II by George Gray and then Glenn Brown by the early 1960s, which is when we reach the invention of two liquid-crystalline polymers, Kevlar and Nomex. My Patreon subscribers can download a supplemental sheet for diagrams of some of these materials.

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69: Look for the Union Label May 21, 2023

We examine the founding of the International Union for Pure and Applied Chemistry, the organization that sets standards for names of elements and compounds, starting with the first international chemical congress at Karlsruhe, Germany, the 1892 Geneva Rules, a 1911 International Association of Chemical Societies, and finally the IUPAC founded in 1919. We look at some of the controversies over committees trying formulate rules for naming compounds, and what and where exactly the IUPAC is.

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68: Transuranium Elements May 14, 2023

We discuss the discovery of elements 93 to 103, from 1940 through the early 1960s. We hear of Enrico Fermi's work, Otto Hahn and Lise Meitner's discovery of fission, McMillan and Abelson's success, and then the long tenure of Glenn Seaborg discovering elements. Albert Ghiorso was added to the mix. There were Cold War controversies over discoveries at Berkeley versus Dubna and even the Nobel Institute in Sweden. IUPAC was inconsistent with its imprimatur on discovery. Finally, we hear something of the tribulations and difficulties in doing radioactive analytical chemistry on tiny amounts of elements.

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67: Let's Scratch the Surface May 08, 2023

In this episode we encounter for the first time early chemistry of surfaces, including the problem of how to separate the effects of a surface versus the rest of a chunk of material. Pliny the Elder first talked of surface effects, and Benjamin Franklin did some experiments in London. We hear of 19th-century Anne Pockels and her apparatus to measure surface effects of soap in water. Then we learn of Irving Langmuir's extensive work on molecules on liquid surfaces in the 1920s, and how Katharine Blodgett extended his research. The 1930s saw the development of the electron microscope which could resolve images better than light, and Erwin Müller in 1955 first imaged individual atoms on crystal surfaces with a field-ion microscope. By the 1960s engineering improved to attain ultra-high vacuums to keep surfaces from air contamination.

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66: Plastic Dreams May 02, 2023

The 1960s continued to bring forth new polymers: Stephanie Kwolek, and Kevlar; Wilfred Sweeney and Nomex; USDA and superabsorbent polymers; ionomers; polysulfones; Carl Marvel and polybenzimidazole fibers; and a now-global innovation using polyethylene. We hear about all these polymers, their molecular structures, and the people who developed them. Become a Patreon supporter, and download a supplemental sheet showing their molecular structures.

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65: Down to Earth Apr 26, 2023

We finally reach the point in our chemical history that environmental chemistry appears, with Rachel Carson, and her book, Silent Spring. We hear about her research and earlier writings, leading up to the publication of the book, and how many chemical organizations and government officials tried to spread “fake news” about her. The second event at this time was Claire Patterson’s work on environmental effects of lead, and his battle against Dr. Robert Kehoe of the Ethyl Corporation. By the late 1960s, Lake Erie was declared dead and the Cuyahoga River briefly caught fire, and the American public had had enough. Earth Day happened in 1970, the EPA was founded in 1971, and here we are.

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64: Like Groovy, Man Apr 20, 2023

In this episode we hear of Robert and Joseph Switzer, brothers who invented fluorescent paints as college students in the 1930s, and parlayed it into an internationally famous business over the next few decades, till fluorescent paints and pigments became popular in the 1960s. The second half of the episode discusses the discovery of fluorescence and how itworks, and we learn of the difference between fluorescence and phosphorescence.

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63: We Gotta Get Out of This Place Apr 14, 2023

This episode's topic is World War II and later chemical warfare. Our first stop is with guest Dr. Mara Cohen Ioannides, to discuss Holocaust survivor, chemist, and writer Primo Levi, plus more. Then we learn of Louis Fieser's invention of napalm, which gained notoriety during the Vietnam War. After the Second World War, poisonous nerve compounds were under research in the UK, and we hear about the V-series of nerve agents. During the Vietnam War, Agent Orange was let loose, and we hear why it became a huge problem. Finally, we learn of the Soviet Union's invention of the Novichok nerve agent.

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62: It is Rocket Science Apr 08, 2023

We talk about rocketry from ancient times up through the early 1960s, concentrating on the chemistry, that is fuels to power rockets. We talk of the initial Chinese rockets and rocket-based toys and gimmicks created by ancient Greeks and Romans. We jump forward to the early 20th century and Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, who discussed possible rocket fuels for outer-space travel. We hear of the work of Robert Goddard and Hermann Oberth, and rocketry societies. The Nazis advanced rocketry to bring missiles, which sparked much interest in American and Soviet research during and after World War II. At this time, solid fuels began to be cast with polymers. We talk of various solid-fuel formulations, and liquid fuels as well. Finally, I mention a bit about ion-powered rockets.

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61: Super Trouper Mar 31, 2023

This episode discusses the controversy over the carbocation in organic chemistry in the 1950s, and experiments done to resolve the argument through the early 1960s, using superacids, especially in research by George Olah, William von Eggers Doering, and Lawrence H. Knox. We mention the main proponent, Saul Winstein and the main nay-sayer, Herbert Brown. We also take you through the basics of what a superacid is--and is not--and how dangerous superacids can be in the laboratory. Supporters of the podcast at Patreon can download a supplemental sheet with molecular structures.

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60: Join the Club Mar 25, 2023

This episode concerns chemical societies: their history and value. We hear of the first scientific society in Rome, the slow spread of scientific societies, and the controversy over what was the first chemical society: in America, Scotland, or England? We learn of the first permanent chemical society, the Chemical Society of London, and its descendants, which now span the world. We hear of the reasons chemists have banded together to create such societies.

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59: Don't Shoot the Messenger Mar 19, 2023

In this episode, we talk about the mostly-forgotten OTHER nucleic acid, RNA, and the history of its discovery. Along the way we encounter Jean Brachet, who discovered the first physiological difference from DNA: it was in the cell cytoplasm. Soon thereafter, Nazi-funded Joachim Hämmerling found that the cell nucleus had genetic information, which ruled out RNA. We take a curve into the new information theory and computers, and maybe how genetic information was coded into DNA. We end up with Kenneth McQuillen and the role of ribosomes in the late 1950s. Only then was RNA finally understood in its biochemical role.

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58: Smoke Signals Mar 13, 2023

This episode brings us up to almost the creation of environmental chemistry. The first part tells of the 1947 explosion of the S.S. Grandcamp in Texas City, USA, and the contributory factors, plus the horrendous damage to the entire bay and nearby cities. The second is how Arie Haagen-Smit discovered the cause of Los Angeles smog in the early 1950s, and what efforts were made before and after his work to mitigate the smog. The third part talks of the 1958 Food Additives Amendment from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, including the Delaney Clause, which led to the cranberry sauce scare of 1959.

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57: The Future is Plastics Mar 07, 2023

This episode is devoted to plastics invented or commercialized in the 1950s. Our first stop is carbon fibers, which started with Joseph Swan in the 19th century, but came of age in the late 1950s with Roger Bacon. Polyurethanes were finally commercialized in the early 1950s by B.F. Goodrich and Baeyer. Polyimides, though invented in 1908, weren't sold as products till the DuPont version, Kapton, in the 1950s. Poly(vinyl)alcohols came of age in 1950s as well, first by Japanese firm Kuraray in 1950, and now are ubiquitous in our society. Acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene, or ABS, and similar copolymers, are also well-known from the 1950s onward--including the famous LEGO block. Spandex, or elastane, from DuPont in the 1950s, is popular in clothing as an improvement to latex rubber. Polycarbonate, first created in 1898, re-emerged in the 1950s jointly by General Electric and Baeyer. Polyacetals, from DuPont in the 1950s, are now found in kitchenware, car parts, and medical devices. Fluoroelastomers, elastic molecules with fluorine atoms, also date from the 1950s.

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56: Chill Pill Mar 01, 2023

We hear about the age of discovery of hormones and antibiotics, from the 1930s to the 1950s. Russell Marker left Penn State to find a plant from which to synthesize progesterone, so we learn about the trials and tribulations of the Mexican firm Syntex. Carl Djerassi joined Syntex and invented norethindrone. We learn of more fungal- and bacterial-based antibiotics, from streptomycin to tetracyclines, vancomycin, and methicillin--and what MRSA is.

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55: Fab Four Feb 23, 2023

We focus on the Group 4 elements: carbon (as an inorganic element), silicon, germanium--and a teeny bit about tin. We hear of the new mineral moissanite and Henri Moissan, about the race to synthesize diamonds with Tracy Hall, the weird properties of semiconductors found in the 19th and early 20th centuries, the first semiconductor device by Jagdish Chandra Bose, and quantum-mechanical explanations. We reach the production of the first transistors in the early 1950s--and how they got their name from John Pierce.

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54: Talkin' 'bout a Revolution Feb 17, 2023

This episode is about the practical changes that appeared during the middle of the 20th century in chemistry laboratories. These are infrared spectrometers, pH meters, visible-ultraviolet spectrophotometers, mass spectrometers, nuclear magnetic resonance instruments, and chromatographs. All of these electronic instruments made the laboratory of the 1960s a most different place than the laboratory of the 1920s. We hear about some of the people who invented and promoted the use of these new chemical tools.

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53: Beads on a String Feb 11, 2023

This episode discusses the mid-20th-century discovery of the structure of proteins. We discuss Mikhail Tsvet's invention of chromatography and Frederick Sanger's revealing of the specific sequence of amino acids in proteins. Then we hear of Vincent du Vigneaud's synthesis of oxytocin and vasopressin, both small proteins. Max Perutz's work on adding heavy metals to proteins to get x ray diffraction helped scientists figure out protein structures. John Kendrew then used a digital computer to extract a structure from an x ray diffraction image. Finally we learn about Christian Anfinsen's work on protein folding and thermodynamics of folding.

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52: Making It Feb 05, 2023

We look at the progress organic chemist Robert Woodward achieved in the 20th century in organic synthesis, that is, creating from scratch all sorts of natural products. His first success was during World War II in synthesizing quinine. Then he was able to create strychnine, cholesterol, cortisone, lysergic acid, reserpine, chlorophyll, cephalosporin, and colchicine. These syntheses took a dozen to two dozen separate chemical reactions. His pinnacle of synthesis was the 1972 co-creation of Vitamin B12. We look at one of the most important mid-20th-century theoretical results of his work: the Woodward-Hoffman rules, co-invented with Holocaust survivor Roald Hoffman. Patreon supporters can download a supplemental sheet to show some diagrams of these molecules.

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51: Let's Take a Field Trip Jan 30, 2023

We learn about developments in 20th-century theoretical inorganic chemistry, starting with coordination complexes as explained by Christian Blomstrand, Sophus Jørgensen, and Alfred Werner. Theory from a quantum-chemical perspective began with Jean Becquerel and Hans Bethe and "Crystal Field Theory." We then look at John Griffith and Leslie Orgel's "Ligand Field Theory." From classical complexes and their multitude of shapes, we move to organometallic complexes and bioinorganic complexes. The last topic of the episode is the discovery of ferrocene in 1951, and the weird shape the molecule has.

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50: This Mortal Coil Jan 24, 2023

As a celebratory episode, reaching number 50 in this podcast, we talk about the history of DNA, from its discovery by Dr. Friedrich Miescher in the 1860s, to the race to uncover its correct structure in 1953, between the Great and Powerful Linus Pauling, and the less-great and certainly non-powerful James Watson and Francis Crick. Along the way, we learn of the fits and starts in figuring out what DNA's real function was, and how it differed from RNA (originally lumped together with DNA as "nucleic acid"). Among the scientists we find along the way are Frederick Griffith, Oswald Avery, Erwin Schrödinger, Erwin Chargaff, Edward Ronwin, Maurice Wilkins, Rosalind Franklin, and Peter Pauling.

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49: Hot Lead Jan 18, 2023

In which we hear about 19th-century observations on the heat-capacity of gases, starting with Eunice Foot in 1856 and John Tyndall a few years later. Then we get to the first mathematical modeling of Earth's climate and how concentration of certain gases affects the climate, as done by Svante Arrhenius in 1896. Then we change to leaded gasoline in the 1920s, as promoted by General Motors and its employee, Thomas Midgely, Jr. Finally, we hear of the first of four pollution diseases of Japan, Itai-Itai, discovered in 1912 as a result of mining for silver in Toyama Prefecture, but only recognized as such a half-century later.

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48: Food for Thought Jan 12, 2023

Once chemists realized that Staudinger was right, that molecules could be huge, protein research zoomed ahead. We hear of Gilbert Adair's study of hemoglobin, of the battle James Sumner had over the crystallization of urease with Richard Willstätter, and then the huge research William Astbury did on various keratin structures. Linus Pauling enters our story with his amazing work on the alpha-helix and beta-sheet generic forms that proteins take. Finally, Pauling announced in 1945 the first known genetic disease, sickle-cell anemia.

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47: Good Vibrations Jan 06, 2023

This episode is devoted to "spectroscopy," when you toss light at a sample and see how the sample responds. We talk of infrared spectroscopy, ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy, far-infrared spectroscopy, and microwaves. All of these types of light affect molecules--in different ways--and we learn how, and who was instrumental in developing each type.

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46: Polythene Pam Dec 31, 2022

Here we start with more polymers popularized in the 1920s through the 1940s and beyond: polyvinyl chloride, or PVC, invented by accident in 1835 by Henri Regnault but made practical by Waldo Semon nearly a century later; polyethylene (polythene), invented by Hans von Pechmann, but commercialized by the mid- to late 1930s by ICI employees Eric Fawcett and Reginald Gibson; high-density polyethylene by a three separate teams in the early 1950s, causing a patent problem; acrylic by Rowland Hill, John Crawford, and Otto Röhm in 1933. On the inorganic side of polymers, Albert Ladenburg found the first silicone in 1871 but didn't quite understand it. Better knowledge came with Paul Kipping 30 years later and James Hyde 30 years after that. We end with polystyrene and polyethylene terephthalate (PET). Supporters of the podcast at Patreon can download a supplemental sheet to see the chemical structures of these materials.

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45: Mechanisms Dec 25, 2022

Here we talk about mechanisms of organic reactions, that is, a physical model describing how particular organic molecules collide, interact, and react. The first chemist to discuss this in a modern way was Arthur Lapworth. We move to Robert Robinson, Arthur Michael, and then Irving Langmuir. Finally the current idea of a reaction mechanism was given by Christopher Ingold in the 1920s and 1930s. We talk of molecular symmetry and its relationship to reaction mechanisms.

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44: Teflon Don Dec 19, 2022

Today we examine the element fluorine and some ways it affected 20th-century chemistry. The first person to isolate the element was Henri Moissan in 1886, succeeding after many others failed, often with dangerous results. We talk about why fluorine is so reactive. Then we talk of Thomas Midgely's work at General Motors to invent the stable, non-toxic refrigerant Freon. We move to Roy Plunkett at DuPont, who discovered accidentally PTFE, a substance with a remarkably low coefficient of friction, which eventually led to the fabric Gore-Tex, and the fire-extinguishing compounds , the halons. We see how dentist Frederick McKay uncovered the cause of Colorado brown stain, and how fluoride ion protects teeth. We end up with some noble-gas compounds with fluorine, first discovered in 1962.

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43: Elemental Masters Dec 13, 2022

Here we learn about how scientists in the early 20th Century gradually became able to create isotopes, convert transmute elements from one to another, and eventually the invention of new, artificial isotopes not found in nature, such as phosphorus-31. We hear of tritium and carbon-14. Then we get to George Hevesy and his idea of radioactive tracing, including a prank he pulled on his landlady. Finally we get to scientists filling in the last gaps (unknown, undiscovered elements) up to uranium on the periodic table by the mid-1940s.

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42: The Shape of You Dec 07, 2022

By the late 1920s, scientists realized that electrons cannot be precisely located around atoms. The best we can do is describe the shape of the probability volume electrons take around atoms. Linus Pauling in the 1930s then took these shapes, and used to them to describe electrons' probability shapes around whole molecules with valence bond theory, explaining why molecules have the shapes they do. We also talk about molecular orbital theory, and how it usually--but not always--agrees with hybridization theory. Patreon subscribers get a supplemental sheet with diagrams.

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41: By Land and by Air Dec 01, 2022

Before environmental chemistry, there were definitely observations about Earth's environment and the part chemistry played. We start with Joseph Priestley and Jan Ingenhousz's observations on how plants and animals add to or remove oxygen from the air, and exchange the oxygen with carbon dioxide, in the 1770s. We then look at Théodore de Saussure, Adolphe-Théodore Brongniart, Jacques-Joseph Ébelmen, Jean Baptiste Boussingault, Eduard Suess, and Vladimir Vernadsky's work to understand the carbon cycle. For the nitrogen cycle, we turn to Boussingault, John Bennet Lawes, Joseph Henry Gilbert, Jules Reiset, Theophile Schlœsing, Achille Müntz, Ulysse Gayon, Gabriel Dupetit, Ulysse Gayon, Gabriel Dupetit, and Engelbert Broda's research on the nitrogen cycle. (It takes a whole biosphere to understand a biosphere.) Other observations about chemistry and the environment include Robert Angus Smith and acid rain, plus the ancient-to-modern knowledge of lead poisoning.

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40: Chain Gang Nov 25, 2022

In this episode, we look at the rise of the Age of Plastics, with polymers from the 1920s and 1930s. We start with urea-formaldehyde resin from 1919, but before the true nature of polymers was clarified. We hear of Hermann Staudinger, who promoted the idea of macromolecules in the 1920s against significant resistance from European chemists. Thé Svedberg's ultracentrifuge gave credence to macromolecules. The rise of DuPont in the 1920s gave us the work of Wallace Carothers and his polymer group, which invented neoprene rubber, polyamide, the first polyester, and ultimately nylon. We learn of the simultaneous work by murderous firm I.G. Farben on synthetic rubbers to free Germany from dependence on latex: Buna, Buna-S, and Buna-N. We learn about hydrogen bonding, a discovery by an undergraduate, Maurice Huggins.
Patreon subscribers have access to a supplemental sheet with molecular structures.

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39: This Means War Nov 19, 2022

We examine the first "chemical war," The Great War, or World War I, and its aftermath, and what made it so. Chlorine gas, phosgene gas, mustard gas, and Lewisite were the products of this era. We also discuss the chemical and political career of Chaim Weizmann, the "father of industrial fermentation," and the checkered history of Fritz Haber. Two decades after the Great War, the Nazis invented nerve agents, and used a pesticide to exterminate millions of people.

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38: Same but Different Nov 13, 2022

This episode introduces isotopes, first understood by Frederick Soddy, while studying decays of radioactive elements. Then we look at half-lives of elements, first calculated by Ernest Rutherford. This led to the first reasonable age of the Earth, calculated by Bertram Boltwood. Soddy and Kasimir Fajans independently figure out what happens to isotopes vis-a-vis the periodic table. Stefanie Horovitz first proves the existence of isotopes after tedious lab work to isolate two forms of lead. Soon after, J.J. Thompson builds a crude mass spectrometer and distinguishes two forms of neon. We discuss isotopes of uranium and hydrogen.

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37: Come to the Lab Nov 07, 2022

We take a break from chemical observations and theory, and switch to practice. That is, we learn about the origins of the chemical laboratory in the Renaissance, and track its development up through the early 20th century. We see the switch from furnaces to gas lines for individual heating apparatuses. We see the start of ventilation, and the differentiation of experimental, lecture, and teaching laboratories. Gradually plumbing enters laboratories, and the arrangement of tables and benches becomes standardized. Laboratories even filter down into governmental school settings.

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36: An Oily Character Nov 01, 2022

Here we talk a bit about the history of petroleum from ancient days to modernity. Among the moderns we hear of are Abraham Gesner, promoter of kerosene; Samuel Kier, huckster, canal-boat owner, and refiner; and Edwin Drake's well that ushered in the modern oil industry. We discuss fractional distillation of petroleum to isolate the various components, octane rating for fuels, and various international terms for "gasoline". Finally, we learn of hydrocarbons as lubricants, and I bring in Elliott Greenfield, Senior Engineer at Greenfield Manufacturing, to discuss physical properties of hydrocarbons.

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35: Au Pair Oct 26, 2022

We learn of the various quantum numbers that describe the size and shape of the energy levels that electrons have inside atoms. Then Louis de Broglie proposes that, just as light has particle characteristics, matter (including electrons) have wave characteristics, which Davisson, Germer, and Thomson show is true. From this, we find that electron waves can fit around atoms only in certain energies. Heitler and London model the smallest molecule, dihydrogen, using quantum-mechanical principles. Linus Pauling takes some general ideas from quantum mechanics, and applies them to chemical bonding.

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34: Plastic Fantastic Oct 20, 2022

This episode introduces us to the first attempts at "plastic materials" in the 19th century, from vulcanized rubber by Charles Goodyear and Thomas Hancock, to Alexander Parkes's "Parkesine", the first synthetic polymer. Later polymers of the Victorian era include Celluloid, rayon, photographic film and the rise of easy photography, the mostly forgotten charmer of the Art Deco word called galalith, Bakelite, and cellulose acetate--also called Celanese. Among the chemists we meet are John Hyatt, George Eastman, Louis Bernigaud, Wilhelm Krische, and Leo Baekeland, and Camille and Henri Dreyfus. But even with these developments, chemists still weren't sure what a polymer really is.

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33: I Want a New Drug Oct 14, 2022

We learn about the successes in finding structures for biochemical compounds like chlorophyll, steroidal molecules and bile acids, cholesterol, vitamin D, and bufotoxin. Other vitamins which were analyzed were vitamin A and vitamin B6. B6 has a pyridine structure. Chemists came to understand terpenes, found in places like pine trees. The blood molecule hemin has a similar structure to chlorophyll. Alkaloids and then the building blocks of DNA, the bases, were given structures.
As for drugs, we learn of salvarsan, sulfanilamide, penicillin, and finally protein. Its amino acids were found in the early 1900s, but the full structures of various proteins were not confirmed as yet.
Patreon supporters can view a supplemental sheet showing molecular structures of some of the compounds I mention in this episode.

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32: Shell Game Oct 09, 2022

Charles Barkla realized how electrons arrange themselves in shells around atoms. Gilbert Lewis noted how electrons can pair up and form bonds, without (much) regard for willingness to give up or accept other electrons to complete shells. We discuss polarity of molecules. Irving Langmuir promoted and expanded Lewis's ideas, adding that atoms like to form octets. Finally, we discuss various models of acidity and basicity.

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31: What's Inside Oct 03, 2022

Ernest Rutherford discovered the basic structure of the atom. Then Max von Laue suggested diffracting x rays through crystalline layers and showed that atoms have a particular arrangement in crystals. Henry Moseley found a relationship between scattered x rays off elements and the positive charge in their nucleus, thus explaining the Periodic Table. Then Max Plank upended science with his "quantum theory". Niels Bohr used quantum theory to posit electron levels in atoms.

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30: X ray Vision Sep 27, 2022

Wilhelm Konrad Röntgen made an earth-shattering discovery for chemistry and atoms in 1895: He discovered x rays. Then, soon after, Henri Becquerel took the idea of x rays a step further and made another, equally earth-shattering discovery for chemistry and atoms: radioactivity. The Curies figured out which known elements were radioactive. Rutherford categorized radioactive rays into alpha, beta, and gamma. We explore what these rays are. We end up with the discovery of the neutron.

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29: Electrons Sep 21, 2022

We finally reach the discovery of electrons. The path starts with experiments on electricity in small vacuum vessels and vacuum pumps, improved by Heinrich Geissler, further improved by William Crookes, and then proving that their mysterious cathode rays were matter, not light, responding to electric and magnetic fields and possessing a mass, as J.J. Thomson showed. Robert Millikan determined the actual mass of the electron. We hear about Thomas Edison's strange electrical effect, and Heinrich Hertz's photoelectric effect. Finally we end with a variety of possible models attempting to explain the structure of atoms.

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28: A Nobel, Booming Business Sep 15, 2022

In the 19th century, the centuries-old dependence on gunpowder for war began to change with Christian Schönbein's invention of guncotton. Then Sobrero invented the frightening nitroglycerin. We learn about Alfred Nobel's dealings with nitroglycerin and his efforts to improve its stability. We also hear about his will, founding the Nobel Prizes. There are more variations of nitro compounds, such as TNT.

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27: Salt of the Earth Sep 09, 2022

We examine industrial inorganic chemistry of the 18th and 19th centuries, including sodium carbonate, focusing on the Leblanc Process and its replacement, the Solvay method. We look at production of the number one chemical in the world, sulfuric acid. We discuss the superphosphate process for fertilizer, and the invention of the match. Steel was a major factor in the Industrial Revolution, so we examine a variety of alloys. Aluminum's expansion with the Hall-Héroult process is mentioned. Finally we talk about the element fluorine and silicon carbide.

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26: Color Me Synthetic Sep 04, 2022

We look at the synthetic dye industry of the 1700s and 1800s, starting with Johann Diesbach, who invented Prussian blue in around 1706. Peter Woulfe found picric acid, a brilliant yellow compound, to be an effective dye for silk and wool in 1771. We hear the words of Dr. Jim Brazell, Professor Emeritus of English at The College of New Jersey, on early 19th-century literature by the German polymath Goethe dealing with chemistry. By the 1850s, William Perkin stumbles upon mauveine, and sent the Victorian Era crazy for mauve fashions. Baeyer discovers how to synthesize indigo dye, and Graebe and Libermann do the same for alizarin dye.

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25: Seeing the Light Aug 29, 2022

In this episode we review 19th-century photochemistry, particularly photography, as well as chain reactions catalyzed by light. We finish up with boiling-point elevation, the last of the "colligative properties." With these aspects of physical chemistry, 19th-century physical chemistry gelled into a full chemical field, and the journal Zeitschrift für Physikalische Chemie was born.

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24: Free Energy Aug 23, 2022

Josiah Gibbs revolutionized physical chemistry with his mathematics of thermodynamics and chemical equilibria, but published in an obscure journal few read. Wilhelm Ostward explained catalysis with his idea of an intermediate. Einstein figured out the cause of Brownian motion, and gave sufficient proof of atoms and molecules that all scientists accepted atomic theory. These developments led to the journal Zeitschrift für Physikalische Chemie, which still exists today. Arrhenius's ionic dissociation explained many of water's properties, and led eventually to Søren Sørensen's pH designation of acids and bases. Guest, Vincent Falcone, Head Brewer of City-State Brewing in Washington, DC, discusses pH and beer.

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23: Ionic but not Doric nor Corinthian Aug 17, 2022

The Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution explains the behavior of gases nicely, and went well with the Ideal Gas Law of Clapeyton, until van der Waals modified the Ideal Gas Law a bit. We learn about absolute temperature and Lord Kelvin. Van 't Hoff connects the gas laws to osmotic pressure and ionic solutions. We hear of Raoult's Law and freezing-point depression. Finally we arrive at Svante Arrhenius's (barely passing) doctoral dissertation on ionic dissociation, and his activation energy for reactions.

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22: Hot Stuff Aug 11, 2022

We begin to examine 19th-century physical chemistry with thermodynamics. We hear of Rudolf Clausius and the two Laws of Thermodynamics, as well as entropy. There is Hess's Law, and Berthelot's calorimeter. We hear how Alexander Williamson started the field of chemical kinetics. Waage and Guldberg propose the Law of Mass Action, which tells us what concentrations of chemicals are at equilibrium.

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21: The Periodic Prophet Aug 05, 2022

We learn about the development of spectroscopy by Bunsen and Kirchhoff, and its ramifications, like remote sensing of materials--including heavenly bodies. We also learn about new elements discovered by spectroscopy, which boosted Mendeleev's periodic table and earned him accolades. Mendeleev, however, also predicted elements that don't exist, and failed to anticipate an entire classification of elements found in the 1890s by William Ramsey. Writer H.G. Wells even included one of these elements in a world-famous sci-fi novel.

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20: The Element of Surprise Jul 31, 2022

The problem of the large and growing variety of elements perplexed chemists, who attempted to bring order to the chaos. We learn about Döbereiner's triads, Pettenkofer and Dumas's correlations of multiples of atomic weights, Newlands's Law of Octaves, and Chancourtois's Telluric Screw. Kekulé's Karlsruhe conference brought order to some chemical chaos, and was the launching point for Dmitri Mendeleev and his periodic table, while Lothar Meyer almost beat Mendeleev for bragging rights. Mendeleev's close friend Alexander Borodin was a chemist AND composer, and we hear from guest Alan Rothenberg on Borodin's life and music.

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19: Molecules in 3D Jul 25, 2022

...in which we learn how polarized light helped Louis Pasteur to determine that internal three-dimensional structure of molecules was real based on "optical isomers." We then move to the 1870s, and see how van 't Hoff and Le Bel independently came up with the idea of tetrahedral carbon to explain optical isomers. Once the idea of an actual 3D structure for molecules was accepted, a variety of chemists used this idea to explain all sorts of molecular structures. Supporters of this podcast at https://www.patreon.com/thehistoryofchemistry can download a supplementary sheet with some diagrams.

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Bonus episode: Behind the Scenes Jul 19, 2022

This episode explains how I create each episode of the podcast, from researching, to script-writing, recording, and editing.

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18: Ouroboros Jul 19, 2022

Edward Frankland realizes that there are specific valences for atoms. Archibald Scott Couper and August Kekulé simultaneously realize that specific atoms bond to specific other atoms in molecules, particularly carbon with valence 4, and invent ways of drawing this on paper. Kekulé also solved the problem of bonding within the compound benzene, after (so he later told it) a dream. My supporters at Patreon get a reference sheet to view for images of molecules.

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17: Electrochemistry Jul 13, 2022

We learn about Jane Marcet, one of the most popular science writers of the 1800s, and her connection to Michael Faraday, one of the most brilliant experimental scientists and demonstrators of the 1800s, as well as Faraday's investigations into electrochemistry. Faraday asked Reverend William Whewell for electrochemical terminology. We hear about the development of electric batteries, electroplating, and how a German soldier imprisoned for a duel founded an international electronics firm.

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16: You're Not My Type Jul 08, 2022

We learn about radical theory and type theory in organic chemistry of the 2nd quarter of the 19th century, and the battle between old stalwart Berzelius and the upstart chemists Gerhardt and Laurent. There is a bit of political history from Japan, the Chōshū Five, and their intersection with English chemistry professor Alexander Williamson.

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15: It's Organic Jul 01, 2022

We reach the beginning of the branch of chemistry called Organic Chemistry. How did organic chemistry differ from inorganic chemistry? Can chemists make organic compounds, or is that restricted only to living creatures? We learn about Friedrich Wöhler, and of Berzelius's theory of radicals, and the problem of isomers.

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14: Berzelius Jun 26, 2022

In which we discuss Jöns Jakob Berzelius and his work. We also take a short detour to hear what US Presidents John Adams and Thomas Jefferson thought about chemistry. We mention the first female Swedish chemist, Anna Sundström. We continue with the conundrum of atomic weights, but the rule of Dulong and Petit helps this to a degree.

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13: Up and Atom! Jun 20, 2022

John Dalton, a Quaker from northern England, was a color-blind scientist. He presented his atomic theory that finally began to make sense to natural philosophers. He also invented a series of symbols for the elements, and created the first table of atomic weights. We learn about Joseph Prout's unusual atomic idea, and Gay-Lussac's work with gases that meshed with atomic theory. Then Alessandro Volta invented the electric battery, which allowed Humphry Davy to find new elements.

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12: Revolution’s Aftermath Jun 14, 2022

What happened to Joseph Priestley and Marie-Anne plus Antoine Lavoisier? What were the immediate effects of Lavoisier’s new chemistry? We discuss how quickly the new chemistry was accepted, with some evidence in Elizabeth Fulhame’s book, plus the controversy between Berthollet and Proust over chemical composition of substances.

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11: Love is Like Oxygen Jun 08, 2022

We continue with research by Joseph Black, Henry Cavendish, and Joseph Priestley, concerning new "airs". Then there is the work by Karl Scheele, which was delayed being published, and Mikhail Lomonosov, which was generally ignored. Finally we reach Marie-Ann Paulze and Antoine Lavoisier, who created modern chemistry by realizing that phlogiston is bogus and water is not an element. We have a guest speaker, Dr. Martin Rosenberg, on the scientific art of Joseph Wright of Derby and a Jacques-Louis David's massive portraits of the Lavoisier couple. For links to images referred to by Dr. Rosenberg, become a Patreon supporter at https://www.patreon.com/thehistoryofchemistry

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Tell me how your life relates to chemistry! E-mail me at steve@historyofchem.com
Get my book, O Mg! How Chemistry Came to Be, from World Scientific Publishing, https://www.worldscientific.com/worldscibooks/10.1142/12670#t=aboutBook

10: Phlogiston: A Burning Question Jun 03, 2022

Here we see the advent of the steam engine, using the knowledge of Boyle's Law, invented by Thomas Savery. We encounter Johann Joachim Becher, with his three elemental earths, including a fatty earth that burned. Then we learn of Georg Ernst Stahl, and his popular idea of phlogiston as the burning quality--but it explained corrosion and rust, too! There is the new calibrated tool, the thermometer, which led to Joseph Black's research on gas sylvester. We discover that at this time, alchemy and chemistry finally diverge, never to meet again. Finally, we hear about the effect of the current natural science even on poetry and music, as performed by Dov Rosenschein.

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9: The First Chemists—Or Chymists? May 29, 2022

In which we meet Angela Sala, who first described accurately a chemical synthesis, van Helmont and his research into gases, Torricelli and his barometer, and Robert Boyle, the "Sceptical Chymist", with a new definition of an "element." We meet one of the last alchemists, Hennig Brand, and learn what he discovered.

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8: The Decline of Alchemy May 24, 2022

The Age of Discovery included new science, but alchemy still lingered. We meet the scholars Agricola, Biringuccio, Paracelsus, and more, along with their writings. We learn of the discovery of Glauber's salt, van Helmont's biochemistry experiment, and Sir Francis Bacon, with his method of scientific induction.

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7: European Alchemy May 19, 2022

As Europeans interacted more with Arab traders, many more books of ancient and Arab alchemy filtered into Europe. We learn about advances in glass, discovery of alcohol, gunpowder, mineral acids. We discuss a number of famous European alchemists and philosophers, and the practice of iatrochemistry.

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Get my book, O Mg! How Chemistry Came to Be, from World Scientific Publishing, https://www.worldscientific.com/worldscibooks/10.1142/12670#t=aboutBook

6: Arab Alchemy May 13, 2022

This episode continues with the fall of the Roman Empire, sending the practitioners of Khemeia eastward. We learn of the rise of Arab Alchemy, the source of the word alchemy, and some of the major Arab alchemists: Geber and Al-Razi, We hear about the two major types of alchemy: exoteric and esoteric. There was a parallel development of alchemy in China as well.

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5: The Rise of Khemeia May 09, 2022

We talk about the rise of the mystical Egyptian art, "khemeia," in the Hellenistic Period through the Roman empire.

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4: It's Elementary! May 08, 2022

We discuss the first chemical theories, both Chinese and Greek, from ancient times, and some of the philosophers who argued about them.

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3: Metallica and More May 08, 2022

We discuss the earliest historical practical chemistry, such as bronze, smelting iron, leather-working, mummification, salt as a preservative, dyes, soap, and even the ultimate origin of the word "chemistry". We have a special guest, Biblical Hebrew scholar Michael Carasik of the podcast "Torah Talk" to fill us in on a bit of chemistry in the Hebrew Bible.

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Get my book, O Mg! How Chemistry Came to Be, from World Scientific Publishing, https://www.worldscientific.com/worldscibooks/10.1142/12670#t=aboutBook

2: All Fired Up May 07, 2022

This episode discusses examples of chemical change known to prehistoric humanity, from fire to fermentation, from annealing and smelting copper to glazing pottery, from heating ochre to change its color to the first use of bronze.

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Trailer to The History of Chemistry May 07, 2022

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Support my podcast at https://www.patreon.com/thehistoryofchemistry
Tell me how your life relates to chemistry! E-mail me at steve@historyofchem.com
Get my book, O Mg! How Chemistry Came to Be, from World Scientific Publishing, https://www.worldscientific.com/worldscibooks/10.1142/12670#t=aboutBook

1: Introduction to The History of Chemistry May 07, 2022

This episode discusses the general theme of the podcast, its scope (from prehistory to the present), who I am, and the format of the series.

Support the show

Support my podcast at https://www.patreon.com/thehistoryofchemistry
Tell me how your life relates to chemistry! E-mail me at steve@historyofchem.com
Get my book, O Mg! How Chemistry Came to Be, from World Scientific Publishing, https://www.worldscientific.com/worldscibooks/10.1142/12670#t=aboutBook

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