We don’t normally think of computers, radios, and cell phones as products of chemistry, but none of these devices would be possible without specialized chemical manufacturing components and techniques. The integrated circuits at the heart of these tools depend on the unique electrical properties of certain inorganic elements such as silicon, germanium, and gallium. On today’s show we speak with Henry Kressel, author of Competing for the Future: How Digital Innovations Are Changing the World, about the early solid-state transistors that heralded the beginnings of the Digitial Age. We also share some listener feedback. The Element of the Week: Germanium.

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Show Clock

00:00 Opening Credits
00:31 Introduction
01:30 Element of the Week: Germanium
03:25 Conversation with Henry Kressel
07:35 Listener feedback
09:55 Quote: William Shockley
10:15 Closing Credits

Resources and References

On the chemical history of electronics: The Electronics Materials program at CHF’s Center for Contemporary History and Policy.
On early transistors: Hyungsub Choi, “The Boundaries of Industrial Research: Making Transistors at RCA, 1948–1960,” Technology and Culture 48 (2007): 758–782.
On RCA: The David Sarnoff Library, containing materials related to the life of David Sarnoff, the former president of RCA and the founder of NBC.
On germanium: David C. Brock, “Useless No More: Gordon K. Teal, Germanium, and Single-Crystal Transistors,” Chemical Heritage 24, no. 1 (Spring 2006): 33–35.
On Joseph Preistley and phlogiston: “Joseph Priestley,” from CHF’s Chemical Achievers Web site.

Credits

Special thanks to Hyungsub Choi for researching the show.

Our theme music is composed by Dave Kaufman. Additional music was provided from the Podsafe Music Network. The music during the Element of the Week is The Source of My Bood ver2.0, by 16Ambianceur. The music for the end of the interview and show ID is Child’s Dream, by 37Hz. The music for this week’s quotation and show credits is Koko Circus, by Alessio Zara.

This week’s image is a CBS 2N158 Germanium Transistor, from the CHF Collections. Photo by Gregory Tobias.

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Creating ink for both the printed and handwritten page, as well as preserving it, has a long history in which chemistry plays an integral part. Some historic inks have started to destroy the pages they’re printed on. Other books and manuscripts have been damaged as a result of older conservation practices that place more emphasis on looks than historic accuracy. In this episode Glen Ruzicka, director of conservation for the Conservation Center for Art and Historic Artifacts, and Ronald Brashear, director of the Othmer Library at CHF, take a tour of the Roy G. Neville Historical Chemical Library, and discuss conservation practices past and present. (You can find a recipe for iron gall ink, one of the materials discussed in the segment, here.) In our Chemistry in Your Cupboard, CHF historian Anke Timmermann explores the history of “invisible” inks. She also explains how to write secret messages at home. The Element of the Week: Copper.

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Show Clock

00:00    Opening Credits
00:31     Introduction
01:22     Element of the Week: Copper
03:09     Rare book tour with Ronald Brashear and Glen Ruzicka
08:43     Chemistry in Your Cupboard: Secret Inks
10:46     Quote: Vladimir Nabokov

Resources and References

On pigments: The online exhibit Pigments Through the Ages, by Web Exhibits, specifically verdigris and emerald green. Also, Fine Art Research, Art Experts, Inc. 
On conservation: Don Etherington, “Historical Background of Book Conservation: The Past Forty Years,” Collection Management 31, 1/2 (2006), 21-29.
On invisible ink: “Cold War Invisible Secrets Unlocked” from Science Daily and an informative entry on Wikipedia.

Credits

Special thanks to Anke Timmermann for researching the show.

Our theme music is composed by Dave Kaufman. Additional music was provided from the Podsafe Music Network. The music for the transition out of the Element of the Week is A Rare Breed, by Mellow Rex. The music for the end of library tour and interview is The Reader of 360 Million Books, by Shams. The music for the quotation is Prelude/Books, by Nuru Lain.

This week’s image is of Gregor Reisch’s Margarita philosophica (Freeburn, 1503). Image courtesy of the Roy G. Neville Historical Chemical Library at CHF. Photo by Douglas A. Lockard.

Western medicine has always looked at the body as a system in balance. Today’s show looks at how ideas about the body’s equilibrium have changed over the past few centuries, from humoral theory to the discovery of vitamins and the role of trace elements in human health. In a new segment, “Mystery Solved,” Erin McLeary, CHF’s curator of exhibitions, explains how public health officials in the early 20th century uncovered the cause of pellagra, a strange and frightening disease associated with poverty in the Deep South. In a feature on the role of trace elements in the diet, naturopath Amy Rothenberg shows us around a health food store and Michael Maroney, a professor of chemistry at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, gives us a medical tour of the periodic table. The Element of the Week: Black bile.

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Show Clock

00:00 Opening Credits
00:32 Introduction
01:12 The Element of the Week: Black bile
02:52 Mystery Solved: Pellagra
05:39 Trace elements, or why do we need selenium and nickel, anyway?
08:55 Quote of the Week: Albert Szent-Gyorgyi
09:15 Closing Credits

Resources and references

On humoral theory: Noga Arikha, Passions and Tempers: A History of the Humors (Harper Collins, 2007), and the helpful entry on Wikipedia.
On pellagra: Elizabeth W. Etheridge, The Butterfly Caste (Greenwood, 1972).
On Joseph Golderberger: Dr. Joseph Goldberg and the War on Pellagra, an online exhibit by the Office of NIH History.
On trace elements in the body: NIH Office of Dietary Supplements Fact Sheets.
Quote: Attributed to Albert Szent-Gyorgyi, winner of the 1937 Nobel Prize for Medicine. Although we found this quotation on a number of Web sites, we were unable to locate an original source. If you know where it comes from, please tell us!

Credits

Special thanks to Erin McLeary for researching the show.

Our theme music and all additional music this week is composed and performed by Dave Kaufman, from merple.com. The music during the Element of the Week is Oh Buoy. The music for the end of Mystery Solved is Guicello’s Attempt. The music for the quotation is Une Plaisanterie.

“Vitamins” photo from stock.xchng, uploaded by n_yfe.