Laboratory science can be a risky business, as many of the chemicals used by researchers can be hazardous to their health. While some of these substances’ dangers are easily mitigated by following proper safety procedures, others have risks that increase with extended exposure—a lesson unfortunately learned by many chemists in previous centuries, which we explore on today’s show. Next, Distillations promotes safety first by exploring why geeky goggles seem more popular in labs than safety glasses. Finally, producer Robin Sussingham visits Auburn Thompson’s 10th grade classroom, where the teacher catches his kids’ attention through pyrotechnics best not tried at home. Chemical Agent: Lead.

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Show Clock

00:00 Opening Credits
00:31 Introduction
01:02 Chemical Agent: Lead
03:31 Tools of the Trade: Safety Goggles
06:23 Feature: High School Chemistry Demonstrations
10:45 Closing Credits

Credits

This show was written and researched by Anke Timmerman and Hilary Domush.

Our theme music is composed by Dave Kaufman. Additional music from the PodSafe Music Network. Additional music includes  ”Doctor Dogbrain,” by Al Phlipp and “The Woo Team Goggles,” by The Misprintz.

This week’s image is “Save Your Eyes—Use Your Goggles,” uploaded to flickr.com by sakraft1 on 19 July 2008.

Alchemy is about a lot more than turning lead into gold or making the philosopher’s stone. Until the 17th century, alchemists worked hard in their laboratories to produce medicines, develop metal- and glass-working techniques, and uncover the quintessential essence of all earthly and celestial matter. This week, Distillations explores the wonders and pitfalls of alchemy—a predecessor to chemistry. CHF’s Anke Timmermann reviews Tara Nummedal’s Alchemy and Authority in the Holy Roman Empire, and producer Nina Goodby visits the Corning Museum of Glass to see their latest exhibit, Glass of the Alchemists. Element of the week: Quintessence.

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Show Clock

00:00 Opening Credits
00:31 Introduction
01:09 Element of the Week: Quintessence
02:54 Review of Tara Nummedal’s Alchemy and Authority in the Holy Roman Empire
06:34 Alchemy at the Corning Museum of Glass
11:15 Closing Credits

Resources and References

Visit NOVA online to read up on Isaac Newton’s use of alchemy.
Learn the tricks of the trade in the rare alchemical books of CHF’s Roy G. Neville Historical Chemical Library.
Check out Glass of the Alchemists at the Corning Museum of Glass.

Credits

Special thanks go to Anke Timmermann for researching the show.

Our theme music is composed by Dave Kaufman. Additional music from the PodSafe Music Network. Additional music is “Velvet,” by Liquid Alchemy, “Bach’s Badinerie,” by Brunswick Due, “Alien Alchemy,” by manmanly, “Raining Steel,” by Disparition, “Bach’s Partita,” by Brunswick Duo, and “The Unknown Halloween Version,” by Savant Trigger.

This week’s image comes from a 1729 alchemical book by Georg von Welling. The book is part of CHF’s Roy G. Neville Historical Chemical Library. Photo by Douglas A. Lockard.

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. We start off with early philosophers’ attempts to understand the soul as an element. Next, we chat with Jackie Duffin, a historian and hematologist at the University of Toronto, who inadvertently found herself making a case for sainthood for Marie-Marguerite d’Youville (pictured). Partially because of Duffin’s testimony, d’Youville was recognized as the first Canadian saint in 1990. Duffin’s experience with the Vatican inspired her new book, Medical Miracles: Doctors, Saints, and Healing in the Modern World, which will be published by Oxford University Press this October. We wrap up the show with a look at the chemistry of zombies. Element of the Week: Pneuma.

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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

Resources and References

For background on pneuma, we relied on William Newman’s Promethean Ambitions: Alchemy and the Quest to Perfect Nature (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2004).
Mary Roach tells the story of the weight of the soul in her book on scientific studies of the afterlife, Spooked, and also in “A Soul’s Weight,” Lost Magazine (December 2005). [Note: we are having trouble linking to the article, but just Google the phrase "soul's weight lost magazine."]
You can learn more about the process of canonization and miracle verification at the Web site of the Vatican’s Congregation for the Causes of Saints.
The information on voodoo powder came from William Booth, “Voodoo Science,” Science 240 (1988): 274–277.
You can find a chemical analysis of tetradotoxin here.
Today’s quote is from Albert Einstein’s 1941 book, Science, Philosophy, and Religion.

Credits

A special thanks to Robert Hicks for researching the show.

Our theme music is composed by Dave Kaufman. Additional music from the PodSafe Music Network. Additional music is “To Lose the War,” by Josh Woodward, “Burnt Sugar,” by Plasmabat, and “Funk in A,” by Pat Zalenka.

The portrait of Marie-Marguerite d’Youville is in the public domain, and was downloaded from the Vatican’s biography of the saint.