Science History Institute

Why emphasizing intellectual achievement and scientific genius harms scientists with intellectual disabilitiesand the rest of us. #Distillations has the story. #DisabledInSTEM https://www.sciencehistory.org//whose-knowledge-counts-sci

Robert Burns Woodward, master of synthetic organic chemistry, died #OTD in 1979. Woodward's most complex synthesis was of vitamin B12. Read more about him and his work. https://www.sciencehistory.org/histor/robert-burns-woodward

Coming this fall, don’t miss Downstream, a new temporary exhibition that will take visitors on a watery journey of history and science. Downstream is made possible in part by a Cultural and Historical Support Grant from the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission. Additional support has been provided through a Science Initiative Grant from Society for Analytical Chemists of Pittsburgh and The Spectroscopy Society of Pittsburgh. Image: Figure 2. Map to Illustrate How Geologic Formations Influence the Properties of Water. Water Purification Plants and Their Operation.

Brawls between doctors were alarmingly common during the 18th century. #Distillations has the story of the most notable duel that took place in Jamaica in 1750, which was triggered by a mysterious blood disease. https://www.sciencehistory.org//vicious-doctors-and-cruel-

#OTD in 1885 Louis Pasteur injected the first of 14 daily doses of rabbit spinal cord suspensions containing progressively inactivated rabies virus into 9 yo. Joseph Meister, the immunization was successful. Read more about Pasteur's work below. https://www.sciencehistory.org/historical-pro/louis-pasteur

The 19th century was full of technological leaps, but it was also the peak of spiritualism. Many people believed they could use the new technology to speak to the dead, including scientists. #Distillations Podcast hosts Alexis Pedrick and Lisa Berry Drago have the story. https://www.sciencehistory.org//ghost-hunting-in-the-19th-

How are familiar things like Teddy Ruxpin and the Walkman related to exotic things like a pulled silicon ingot? Our newly updated display on materials &electronics will connect the dots. Check it out when you visit our museum! #PhillyMuseums #MuseumRefresh #MuseumReopening

What might we be ignoring when what we know about the natural world rests solely on the privilege of sight? #Distillations has the story. https://www.sciencehistory.org//through-the-lens-of-disabi

Marie Sklodowska Curie, two-time Nobel laureate best known for her pioneering studies of radioactivity, died #OTD in 1934. Read more about her and her work! https://www.sciencehistory.org/histo/marie-sklodowska-curie

Was a mysterious illness afflicting rural New England in the 19th century the work of vampires? Listen to the first episode of the #Distillations Fantasy season on our website, or wherever you get your podcasts! https://sciencehistory.org/distillati/podcast/vampire-panic

Movies and television shows like to portray scientists as lone geniuses. But the reality is more complex for scientists with disabilities. #Distillations has the story. #DisabilityInSTEM https://www.sciencehistory.org//disability-and-the-myth-of

Got any plans today? Stop by the museum and check out our newly refreshed exhibits! Learn the stories of Marie Meurdrac, Ardaseer Cursetjee, and Masamichi Yamashita, learn what’s behind a Nobel Prize, and try our interactive touch table and explore the curious, fascinating, and quirky histories of common objects. We're open 10am-5pm today and admission is free!

A spectroscope filters light through a narrow slit, dispersing the light into a visible spectrum. The earliest of these groundbreaking scientific instruments was invented by Robert Bunsen and Gustav Kirchhoff in Germany on this day in 1859. Their basic design, shown here, was not substantially altered until the introduction of the mass spectrometer in 1919. https://digital.sciencehistory.org/works/sb3978660

Wow, we've got a busy week ahead of us at the Science History Institute! Check out our event listings to find out how you can attend a lunchtime lecture with Ezelle Sanford, a magic-filled Alchemical Happy Hour, a spooky film watch-along, and more! https://www.sciencehistory.org/event-calendar The Alchemist in his Workshop by Balthasar van den Bossche

What's the best way to find out about everything happening at the Science History Institute? Sign up for our newsletter! We'll send you a weekly digest of upcoming events, new Distillations content, and more. https://www.sciencehistory.org/join-our-mailing-list

On this day in 1939, fashion got an upgrade! Nylon stockings went on sale for the first time, though they were only available to employees at DuPont's Wilmington, Delaware factory. Here's more about nylon's history. #Distillations https://www.sciencehistory.org//nylon-a-revolution-in-text

This photograph from the 1970s shows a chemist reviewing the results of an analysis made by an Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer in the research laboratory at the Detroit Edison Company as part of permit compliance testing for the National Pollution Discharge Elimination Survey. Search digital.sciencehistory.org to find even more photographs of scientists working in their labs in the 19th and 20th century. #OthmerLibrary #BlackAndSTEM

In Between Us and Catastrophe, photographer Kyle Cassidy has documented the nurses, sanitary workers, and grocery store clerks working on the front lines of COVID-19. See the pandemic from their point of view when you visit our new outdoor exhibition, coming soon to 3rd and Chestnut in Philadelphia. https://www.sciencehistory.org/between-us-and-catastrophe

We’re a bunch of chemistry nerds around here, which makes today one of our favorite days! Can you guess why? Hint: it has something to do with this guy. https://www.sciencehistory.org/historical-p/amedeo-avogadro

It's "T" for Thursday! This dramatic drop cap with a cute little dragon inside appears in Theatrum Chemicum Britannicum by Elias Ashmole. See more engravings in the Othmer Library's catalog. https://othmerlib.sciencehistory.org/record=b1033205~S6

On this day in 1981, aspartame was approved for tabletop use by the United States Food and Drug Administration, almost twenty years after it was first discovered. Learned more about the quest to create sugar substitutes. #Distillations https://www.sciencehistory.org/distill/the-pursuit-of-sweet

Got alchemy? On Oct 29 at 5:30pm ET, join us for a virtual happy hour where we'll be unlocking the many mysteries found within the pages of one of the strangest books in our library collections. Register to receive a link to this free event and a recipe for a themed cocktail! https://www.sciencehistory.org/eve/an-alchemical-happy-hour

Deaf, Cuban-American silent film actor Emerson Romero was one of the first to come up with a technology for film captioning. You can learn more about this fascinating history in this interview with historian Jaipreet Virdi. https://www.cbc.ca//how-a-deaf-silent-film-actor-pioneered

Calling teachers and professors! If you're looking to supplement your curriculum with additional history of science content, check out our Lunchtime Lecture series. Each Wednesday this fall, we'll be featuring a free virtual talk by a historian of science, and all lectures will be available on our Youtube channel following the talk. https://www.sciencehistory.org/lunchtime-lectures