Distillations: Science + Culture + History

This week we’re looking back at some of our favorite Distillations episodes. SHOW CLOCK 00:00 Opening Credits 00:32 Introduction 00:50 Element of the Week: Platinum 03:03 Making Mauvine 08:30 Mystery Solved! Damascus Steel 11:17 Closing Credits CREDITS Special thanks to Hilary Domush and Chi Chan for researching this show. Additional credits available at chemheritage.org/distillations.

We continue to look back at some of our favorite episodes this week at Distillations. SHOW CLOCK 00:00 Opening Credits 00:31 Introduction 00:48 Element of the Week: Black Bile 02:12 A Conversation with Jackie Duffin 06:44 Chemistry in Your Cupboard: Pop Rocks 08:52 Closing Credits CREDITS Special thanks to Erin McLeary, Robert Hicks, and Chi Chan for researching this show. Additional credits available at chemheritage.org/distillations.

Addicted to the Olympics? Take a break from too much video with 12 minutes of audio. On today’s show, we investigate Olympic mysteries, from the flame of the torch to the composition of those so-called gold medals. SHOW CLOCK 00:00 Opening Credits 00:31 Introduction 01:12 Element of the Week: Gold 03:13 Mystery Solved! The Olympic Torch 06:01 Citizen Air Quality Monitoring 10:43 Quote: Albert Camus 11:03 Closing Credits CREDITS Special thanks to Hilary Domush and Andrew Stelzer for researching this show. Additional credits available at chemheritage.org/distillations.

This week we discuss the chemistry behind what we wear. Many modern fabrics include synthetic materials, and these synthetics would not be possible without chemistry. SHOW CLOCK 00:00 Opening Credits 00:31 Introduction 01:00 Element of the Week: Aluminum 03:20 Leather Tanning in India 08:18 Chemistry in Your Cupboard: Pantyhose 11:02 Robert’s Farewell 11:20 Quote: Mark Twain 11:33 Closing Credits CREDITS Special thanks to Erin McLeary, Jean Parker, and Jennifer Dionisio for researching this show. Additional credits available at chemheritage.org/distillations.

We’re rather fond of chemistry here at Distillations, but even we have to admit that not everyone who’s interested in chemistry is inspired purely by a love of science. On today’s show we explore the uses of chemistry on either side of the law. SHOW CLOCK 00:00 Opening Credits 00:31 Introduction 01:08 Element of the Week: Arsenic 03:12 A Conversation with Jay Aronson 07:34 Review: Breaking Bad 10:58 Quote: Emma Goldman 11:09 Closing Credits CREDITS Special thanks to Jennifer Dionisio for researching this show. Additional credits available at chemheritage.org/distillations.

The term molecular gastronomy can sound pretentious, but food writer Harold McGee describes it as “the science of deliciousness.” Learn more about the science of food (and deliciousness) in this week’s episode. SHOW CLOCK 00:00 Opening Credits 00:30 Introduction 01:14 Element of the Week: Bismuth 03:39 Mystery Solved! The Perfect Egg 06:28 Chemistry in the Kitchen: Making Mousse Without Dairy 11:04 Quote: Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin 11:19 Closing Credits CREDITS Special thanks to Chi Chan for researching this show. Additional credits available at chemheritage.org/distillations.

There’s an old stereotype that portrays science and religion as inevitably mired in conflict. On today’s show we look past the clichés—evolution and Galileo and all that—for some areas where the two have something constructive to say to each other. SHOW CLOCK 00:00 Opening Credits 00:32 Introduction 01:01 Element of the Week: Pneuma 03:00 A Conversation with Jackie Duffin 07:55 Mystery Solved! Zombies 10:42 Quote: Albert Einstein 11:02 Closing Credits CREDITS Special thanks to Robert Hicks for researching this show. Additional credits available at chemheritage.org/distillations.

What makes motherhood scientific? This week, we try to answer, with a look at motherhood, pregnancy, and science. SHOW CLOCK 00:00 Opening Credits 00:32 Introduction 01:06 Element of the Week: Curium 03:43 A Conversation with Janet Golden 07:55 Chemistry in Your Cupboard: Home Pregnancy Tests 11:07 Quote: Katharine Whitehorn 11:29 Closing Credits CREDITS Special thanks to Erin McLeary for researching this show. Additional credits available at chemheritage.org/distillations.

Chemistry has been part of the American experience ever since the settlers at Jamestown built a lab for blowing glass and assaying metal (you can learn more on our Jamestown episode). Today we celebrate the 4th of July with a tribute to American scientific and technological achievements—and we’ve thrown in some fireworks, just for fun. SHOW CLOCK 00:00 Opening Credits 00:31 Introduction 00:57 Element of the Week: Americium 03:03 A Conversation with Dale Keairns 07:22 Mystery Solved! Fireworks 09:54 Quote: Vannevar Bush 10:25 Closing Credits CREDITS Special thanks to Chi Chan for researching this show. Additional credits available at chemheritage.org/distillations.

Matter can neither be created nor destroyed. So when you take your garbage out to the curb every week, do you ever stop to think about where it’s going? In this week’s episode, Jori Lewis explores how New York City is trying to make it easier for residents to recycle their electronic waste. SHOW CLOCK 00:00 Opening Credits 00:31 Introduction 01:15 Element of the Week: Cadmium 03:25 Conversation with Demir Hamami 07:16 Recycling Electronics 11:23 Quote: Chinese proverb 11:32 Closing Credits CREDITS Special thanks to Jody Roberts for researching this show. Additional credits available at chemheritage.org/distillations.

Summer 2008 officially begins today, June 20, at 7:50 EDT (at least in the Northern Hemisphere). Here at Distillations, we’re celebrating with a show dedicated to poolside lounging. SHOW CLOCK 00:00 Opening Credits 00:31 Introduction 00:58 Element of the Week: Titanium 02:57 Chemistry in Your Cupboard: Chlorination 05:22 Mystery Solved! Why do we float? 07:42 Quote: Henry James 08:00 Closing Credits CREDITS Special thanks to David Caruso for researching this show. Additional credits available at chemheritage.org/distillations.

Illumination has been a quest of humans for centuries now—both in terms of the cerebral and the physical. In today’s episode we focus on the physical type of illumination. SHOW CLOCK 00:00 Opening Credits 00:32 Introduction 01:14 Element of the Week: Sodium 04:09 Chemistry of Bioluminescence 09:10 Mystery Solved: Glowing in the Dark 11:08 Quote: Johann Wolfgang von Goethe 11:24 Closing Credits CREDITS Special thanks to Hilary Domush and Ann Dornfeld for researching this show. Additional credits available at chemheritage.org/distillations.

Baseball, track, swimming, biking—is there any sport that hasn’t suffered a scandal in the past few years? It turns out that the obvious culprits—performance enhancing drugs—are just the tip of the iceberg for how chemistry can alter athletic competition. In today’s show we look at some of the chemistry going on both inside and outside athletes’ bodies. SHOW CLOCK 00:00 Opening Credits 00:31 Introduction 01:10 Element of the Week: Potassium 02:56 A Conversation with John Hoberman 07:28 Chemistry in Your Cupboard 10:48 Quote: Damon Hill 11:00 Closing Credits CREDITS Special thanks to Erin McLeary for researching this show. Additional credits available at chemheritage.org/distillations.

There are four fundamental qualities: time, length, mass, and temperature. All other units can be derived from them, but these four can’t be broken down any further. This week we focus on time—the measurement that orders our lives. SHOW CLOCK 00:00 Opening Credits 00:32 Introduction 01:30 Element of the Week: Ruthenium 03:59 Chemistry in Your Cupboard: Pressure Cooker 06:20 The Atomic Clock 10:37 Quote: William Faulkner 10:51 Closing Credits CREDITS Special thanks to Eric Mack and Audra Wolfe for researching this show. Additional credits available at chemheritage.org/distillations.

What do Isaac Newton, yeast, and Harold Urey have in common? They all come under the research microscope of Chemical Heritage Foundation fellows. SHOW CLOCK 00:00 Opening Credits 00:31 Introduction 01:04 Element of the Week: Calcium 02:57 Chemistry in Your Cupboard: Hops 05:44 A Visit to Dogfish Head Brewery 09:57 Quote: Ben Franklin 10:10 Closing Credits CREDITS Special thanks to Hilary Domush and Joel Rose for researching this show. Additional credits available at chemheritage.org/distillations.

Entropy is defined as the degree of disorder in a system, and according to the Second Law of Thermodynamics entropy is always increasing. Preservation is a way that humans are trying to beat entropy, and this week we look at why and how we preserve. SHOW CLOCK 00:00 Opening Credits 00:32 Introduction 01:08 Element of the Week: Argon 03:24 Conversation with Ronn Wade 07:29 Frozen Dead Guy Days 11:28 Quote: Neil Rollinson 11:44 Closing Credits CREDITS Special thanks to Eric Mack and Audra Wolfe for researching this show. Additional credits available at chemheritage.org/distillations.

Blogs, YouTube, Facebook, and wikis are just a few of so-called Web 2.0 technologies that are transforming the look and feel of science on the Web. SHOW CLOCK 00:00 Opening Credits 00:32 Introduction 01:04 Conversation with John Horrigan 05:00 Element of the Week 08:01 Science Education in the Era of No Child Left Behind 10:58 Quote: Mary Shelley 11:16 Closing Credits CREDITS Special thanks to Audra Wolfe for researching this show. Additional credits available at chemheritage.org/distillations.

Sound is often thought to be a science of physics, but on today’s show we consider its chemistry. SHOW CLOCK 00:00 Opening Credits 00:31 Introduction 01:11 Element of the Week: Neodymium 03:03 Chemistry in Your Cupboard: Pop Rocks 05:43 Sonic Art: Experimental Musical Instruments 10:43 Quote: Ludiwg van Beethoven 11:08 Closing Credits CREDITS Special thanks to Chi Chan and Catherine Girardeau for researching this show. Additional credits available at chemheritage.org/distillations.

Tuesday, April 22 was Earth Day. Amid all the hubbub about “going green,” it’s a fair question to ask how much power individual consumers have to reduce their environmental impact. SHOW CLOCK 00:00 Opening Credits 00:32 Introduction 01:18 Element of the Week: Fluorine 02:48 REACH: A New Approach to Chemical Regulation 07:44 A Conversation with John Mullins, Sun and Earth 10:38 Quote: Francis Bacon 10:54 Closing Credits CREDITS Special thanks to Jori Lewis and Jody Roberts for researching this show. Additional credits available at chemheritage.org/distillations.

Semiconductors are at the heart of countless electronic devices. Although we often think of Silicon Valley as being built on computer chips, the companies that make the chips often depend upon materials and equipment manufacturers who build the component parts. On today’s show we explore some of the unheralded companies that have made the Digital Revolution possible. SHOW CLOCK 00:00 Opening Credits 00:32 Introduction 01:20 Element of the Week: Silicon 02:46 Conversation with Griff Resor 06:26 Virtual Tour of the Computer History Museum 10:52 Quote: N. Bruce Hannay 11:05 Closing Credits CREDITS Special thanks to Hyungsub Choi and Mia Lobel for researching this show. Additional credits available at chemheritage.org/distillations.