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. Today’s show looks at a range of environmental issues at three different points on the individual/collective responsibility spectrum. Producer Jori Lewis takes a closer look at the European Union’s new approach to chemical regulation, the REACH agreement. CHF’s Jody Roberts interviews John Mullins, president and CEO of Sun and Earth, a company that makes non-toxic cleaning products. Element of the Week: Fluorine.

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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

Resources and References

On new scientific concerns about fluoridation: A summary version of a 2006 National Research Council report on the dangers of flouridation may be downloaded free of charge. You can also purchase the entire report from the NAS.
On REACH, including links to many official EU documents: this helpful introduction from the EU.

Credits

Special thanks to Jody Roberts for researching the show.

Our theme music is composed by Dave Kaufman. Additional music was provided by the Podsafe Music Network. The music for the Element of the Week is “Mexico,” by The King of France. At the show ID, you’re hearing “No Words,” by Jason Steele Ensemble. The music underneath the quotation is “Paradise on Earth,” by Satya.

The image, “Toothpaste,” was uploaded to stock.xchange by festland.

Jamestown celebrated its 400th anniversary last year. Many people may know that it was the first permanent English settlement in North America, but less commonly known is that Jamestown was also the birthplace of the American chemical enterprise. Today we learn why the settlers of Jamestown purposely packed copper waste products to bring to the New World with them. Also explore a centuries-old murder mystery and how strontium can help solve it. Finally, producer Amy Mayer takes us into the modern-day glassblowing studio of Josh Simpson—the art of which has not changed much since the first settlers at Jamestown set up their own glassblowing works. Element of the Week: Strontium.

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00:00     Opening Credits
00:32     Introduction
01:16     Mystery Solved
04:00     Element of the Week: Strontium
06:24     Visiting Josh Simpson’s Glassblowing Studio
10:13     Quote: Captain John Smith
10:23     Closing Credits

Resources and References

On JR, the mystery man: the Jamestown Rediscovery Web site.
On strontium: this helpful entry on Wikipedia.
For more about Josh Simpson’s work, visit his Web site.

Credits

Special thanks to Robert Hicks for researching the show.

Our theme music is composed by Dave Kaufman. Additional music was provided by Jon Sayles. The music underneath the monologue is “Fly not so fast my dear,” by John Wilbye. The music for the Mystery Solved segment is “My Lady Carey’s Dompe,” by Anonymous. The music for the Element of the Week is “You that wont to my pipes sound,” by Thomas Morley. Underneath the quote of the week is “The Witches’ Dance,” by Anonymous.

The image at the top of the page, of Josh Simpson working in his studio, is courtesy of Lewis Legbreaker. Both images of Simpson’s platters are courtesy of Tommy Olof Elder.

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. CHF’s program manager for electronic materials, Hyungsub Choi, interviews Griff Resor, former chief technology officer at GCA and current president of Resor Associates, on the role of semiconductors components manufacturers. Senior producer Mia Lobel takes us on an audio tour of the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California. Element of the Week: Silicon.

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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 for researching the show.

Our theme music is composed by Dave Kaufman. Additional music was provided by the Podsafe Music Network. The music for the Element of the Week is “Cyber War—Heart of Steel,” by Oddsprite. The music for the show identification is “Red Rings,” by Dilo. Underneath the quote of the week is Brian Amsterdam’s “Spiders.”

This week’s image is of the Wall of PCs at the Computer History Museum. Photo by Dag Spicer.

Science has long been a component of warfare, and in this week’s episode we look at how it has played a part in both destruction and preservation during times of war. Villanova University history professor Jeffrey Johnson spoke to us about dual use technology and how products and processes can be used by the military and in civilian life. Chlorine is an example of such a dual use technology—during World War I chlorine gas was used as a weapon, but today chlorine is commonly found in swimming pools. Finally, Audra Wolfe reviews Drew Gilpin Faust’s new book, This Republic of Suffering: Death and the American Civil War, which looks at the history and culture of death during the American Civil War. Element of the Week: Chlorine.

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Show Clock

00:00     Opening Credits
00:32     Introduction
01:19     Conversation with Jeffrey Johnson
07:35     Element of the Week: Chlorine
09:35     Review of This Republic of Suffering
11:46     Quote: William Jennings Bryan
11:56     Closing Credits

Resources and References

On Haber: Dietrich Stoltzenberg, Fritz Haber: Chemist, Nobel Laureate, German, Jew: A Biography, (Philadelphia: Chemical Heritage Foundation, 2005).
On World War I: Albert Palazzo, Seeking Victory on the Western Front: The British Army & Chemical Warfare in World War I (University of Nebraska Press, 2000).
On Death in the Civil War: Drew Gilpin Faust, This Republic of Suffering: Death and the American Civil War (Knopf, 2008).
Quote: William Jennings Bryan at the 1896 Democratic Convention.

Credits

Special thanks to David Caruso for researching the show.

Our theme music is composed by Dave Kaufman. Additional music was provided by the Podsafe Music Network. The music at the end of the interview is “Sugar Spider,” by FuriousBall. The Element of the Week ends with “Hydrocarbons,” by Smog Monster. The music for the quote of the week is “Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists,” by Cagey House.

This week’s image is a photograph staged to show the importance of a soldier carrying and wearing his gas mask. From Frank J. Mackey, Forward—March! A Photographic Record of America in the World War and Post War Social Upheaval (Chicago: Disabled American Veterans of the World War, Department of Rehabilitation, 1937), p. 106.