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Episode 57: Library & Information Services

Does the recession have you looking for free entertainment? Let’s go to the library! This week we take a field trip to that venerable institution where great reading abounds and shushing up is de rigueur. We’ll thumb our way through the Chemical Abstracts, a must-use information management system that has been registering chemical research and nomenclature for over a century. We’ll browse in CHF’s rare book reading room, where Rare Books Curator James Voelkel teaches us about the ancient art and science of book binding. And we get some tips on damage control in this week’s Chemical Agent: Water.

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Show Clock

00:00 Opening Credits
00:31 Introduction
01:04 Chemical Agent: Water
03:43 Tools of the Trade: The Chemical Abstract Service
06:44 Feature: Book Printing and Binding
11:18 Closing Credits

Resources and References

Visit CHF’s online card catalog to view images from the Roy G. Neville Historical Chemical Library.
Florence-flood.com
is a blog and resource clearing house for information on the Florence flood of 1966.
Watch a video of the book restoration process.
Visit the National Archives and Library of Congress websites for information on saving old booksdrying procedures, and a preservation FAQ.

Credits

Audra J. Wolfe wrote and researched this episode.

Our theme music is composed by Dave Kaufman. Additional music from the PodSafe Music Network. Additional music is: ”Flood Water Bridge,” by Desert Waltz; “Salsa di Soy,” by Boom Boom Beckett; and “Overture, Suite from Les Fetes by Rameau,” by Magnatune.

All photos taken from books in the Roy G. Neville Historical Chemical Library in CHF’s Othmer Library. Photographer: Douglas A. Lockard.

Episode 53: Faking It

The truth behind the fake—this week Distillations explores the science of forgery. Some forgery is known and expected, such as fake meat products for vegetarians, while other fakes are meant to deceive…think imitated artists. First we learn about cubic zirconia, which has long been used to pass for diamonds. Turns out CZ is an interesting stone in its own right! Next up is TVP, or textured vegetable protein. This Chemistry in your Cupboard tells us all about soy as a meat substitute. And finally, producer Rebecca Sheir visits the Boston Museum of Fine Arts and their Scientific Research Laboratory. While there Rebecca finds out how forgery in art can be detected. Element of the Week: Zirconium.

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Show Clock

00:00 Opening Credits
00:32 Introduction
01:22 Element of the Week: Zirconium
03:36 Chemistry in your Cupboard: Soy as Sirloin
06:32 Feature: Detecting Forgery in Art
11:26 Closing Credits

Resources and References

Find out more about cubic zirconia on the Geology Rocks web site.
The Los Angeles Times ran an informative article, “Cubic’s Rubes,” on 18 December 1981.
We also found the January 2003 issue of Refrigerated & Frozen Foods quite helpful, with an entire section dedicated to Soy Solutions.

Credits

Special thanks go to Erin McLeary and Audra Wolfe for researching the show.

Our theme music is composed by Dave Kaufman. Additional music from the PodSafe Music Network. Additional music is “A Lot Like Diamonds,” by A Beautiful Curse, “blackbeans,” by Francisco Daum, and “detective double bass,” by lastfuture.

This week’s photo was taken by Julianna Tilton and was downloaded from 123RF.com.

Episode 21: Sound

Savart’s WheelSound is often thought to be a science of physics, but on today’s show we consider its chemistry. When we hear sounds, we’re really encountering waves. The frequency and amplitude of these waves are largely determined by the kinds of materials that produce them, or that they encounter on the way to our ears. And when you’re talking about materials science, you’re talking about chemistry. Modern stereo speakers, for example, depend on magnetic alloys based on an ironically abundant rare earth metal. We also get behind the truth underneath the myriad urban legends surrounding Pop Rocks, a candy that sizzles when you eat it. Finally, producer Catherine Girardeau takes us to the studios of Bart Hopkin and Oliver DiCicco, two artists who make experimental sonic art. Element of the Week: Neodymium.

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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

Resources and References

On neodymium: Information on neodymium was taken from The CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, 85th Edition (Boca Raton: CRC Press, 2005).
On Pop Rocks: Marvin Rudolph, Pop Rocks: The Inside Story of America’s Revolutionary Candy (Specialty Publishers, 2006).

Credits

Special thanks to Chi Chan 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 “Cracked Smiles,” by Chaos Device. At the beginning of Chemistry in Your Cupboard, you’re hearing “Candycane Pain,” by B.I. The music at the show ID is “How Blue,” by The Last Call Brawlers. The feature includes a number of pieces by Bart Hopkin and Oliver DiCicco/Mobius Operandi. In order, these are: “Now Only” (Mobius Operandi); “Embert, Rumel, and Frumentus,” “Robinson,” and “Plousch” (all Hopkin);  ”Oovulation” (Mobius Operandi); “Aquavina and Cowbells,” and “Baby Please Don’t Go” (Hopkin).

The image of Savart’s Wheel is taken from Bart Hopkin’s Web site, Experimental Musical Instruments.

Episode 15: The Art of Science

Dove BradshawWhile chemistry often plays a silent role in art, such as synthetic additives in acrylic paints, both artists and scientists have consciously chosen to intersect the two. CHF’s Erin McLeary was astounded by the work of Friedlieb Ferdinand Runge, who created images with filter paper and called them “self-grown pictures.” In this week’s episode, Erin tells us how Runge discovered the colorful pictures that grow themselves. We also visit two present-day New York artists — Steve Miller and Dove Bradshaw — who have chosen different routes to incorporate science into their art. And this week we learn about neon and how it found its way into popular art. Element of the Week: Neon.

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Show Clock

00:00     Opening Credits
00:32     Introduction
01:09     Element of the Week: Neon
03:37     Commentary: Self-Grown Pictures
06:54     ChemArtists
10:51     Quote: Bo Malmstrom
11:04     Closing Credits

Resources and References

Neon as art: Eric Ehlenberger’s virtual art gallery and the online gallery of Craig Kraft.
On Runge: Bussemas, H. H., G. Harsch, and L. S. Ettre. “Friedlieb Ferdinand Runge (1794-1867): ‘Self-Grown Pictures’ as Precursors of Paper Chromatography,” Chromatographia 38 (1994): 243-254.
For more about the ChemArtists: Steve Miller and Dove Bradshaw.

Steve MillerCredits

This show was researched by Erin McLeary and Audra Wolfe.
Lisa Gray produced the segment on ChemArtists.

Our theme music is composed by Dave Kaufman. Additional music was provided from the Podsafe Music Network. The music at the end of the Element of the Week is Neon Baby, by The Bad Touch. The music for the commentary is Mysterious World, by If. The music for the quotation is Fire against the Sea, by Ichiro Nakagawa.

Photo credits, from top to bottom: Six Continents, art and photo by Dove Bradshaw. Friedlieb Ferdinand Runge title page from the author’s 1858 book Der Bildungstrieb der Stoffe: Veranschaulicht in selbstständig gewachsenen Bildern (Fortsetzung der Musterbilder). Image courtesy of The Othmer Library of Chemical History at CHF, photo by Rosanne DiVernieri. Artist Steve Miller in front of his work With Strings Attached, photo by Lisa Gray.