The History of Chemistry

I conclude this series, touching on why I ran this podcast. I give eleven overarching goals for the podcast. I also go far back into my own past, and an event which eventually led to me speaking to you about chemistry. Finally I send you off with an announcement about a national award I will accept in 2026. Please continue to support this podcast, because it costs money to keep this series posted on Buzzsprout and Patreon. Without your continued support, this podcast will disappear from the Internet--and neither you or I want that.

Support the show

• Support my podcast at https://www.patreon.com/thehistoryofchemistry
• Tell me how your life relates to chemistry! E-mail me at [email protected]
• Get my book, O Mg! How Chemistry Came to Be, from World Scientific Publishing, https://www.worldscientific.com/worldscibooks/10.1142/12670#t=aboutBook

I give a brief history of finding planets around other stars, including discovery by gravitational wobbling, dimming as the planet crosses in front of its star, and even seeing an actual planetary image by blocking the star's glare. I discuss what sort of spectroscopic signals might be present for life in a planet's atmosphere. Finally I offer some planets already detected whose temperatures appear to be in the range of terrestrial life, and what's in their atmospheres.

Support the show

• Support my podcast at https://www.patreon.com/thehistoryofchemistry
• Tell me how your life relates to chemistry! E-mail me at [email protected]
• Get my book, O Mg! How Chemistry Came to Be, from World Scientific Publishing, https://www.worldscientific.com/worldscibooks/10.1142/12670#t=aboutBook

We take an imaginary trip around our Solar System to hear the history of chemical attempts to find life, starting in the late 1950s. Among our stops on the tour include Venus, Mars, Europa, and Titan. Included in the tour are temperature measurements, spectroscopic views, gas chromatography, radioactive labeling, photographs, electrical conductivity, and more.

Support the show

• Support my podcast at https://www.patreon.com/thehistoryofchemistry
• Tell me how your life relates to chemistry! E-mail me at [email protected]
• Get my book, O Mg! How Chemistry Came to Be, from World Scientific Publishing, https://www.worldscientific.com/worldscibooks/10.1142/12670#t=aboutBook

In which we bring research into molecular machines up to date. We discuss fuels, specifically what chemists think are the best kinds of fuels to power these little molecules. We discuss what makes a molecular machine different from a regular-sized machine. We also talk about molecular machines as a subset of "molecular devices." Finally, we mention a poll for researchers that IUPAC has set up to help chemists define what a molecular machine really is.

Support the show

• Support my podcast at https://www.patreon.com/thehistoryofchemistry
• Tell me how your life relates to chemistry! E-mail me at [email protected]
• Get my book, O Mg! How Chemistry Came to Be, from World Scientific Publishing, https://www.worldscientific.com/worldscibooks/10.1142/12670#t=aboutBook

Instead of just digging in the ground to extract minerals, over the past half-century scientists have begun to explore agriculture of hyperaccumulating plants to pull elements--including heavy metals--out of the topsoil. We explore the recent history of this topic, its advantages and pitfalls.

Support the show

• Support my podcast at https://www.patreon.com/thehistoryofchemistry
• Tell me how your life relates to chemistry! E-mail me at [email protected]
• Get my book, O Mg! How Chemistry Came to Be, from World Scientific Publishing, https://www.worldscientific.com/worldscibooks/10.1142/12670#t=aboutBook

The History of Chemistry is itself an academic discipline, and in this episode we explore the history of chemical history. We start with chemist Thomas Thomson, and work our way forward in time, through the various books on the subject, the founding of the History of Chemistry Section of the American Chemical Society, various chemical-history journals, the Science History Institute, and the Royal Society of Chemistry's Historical Group.

Support the show

• Support my podcast at https://www.patreon.com/thehistoryofchemistry
• Tell me how your life relates to chemistry! E-mail me at [email protected]
• Get my book, O Mg! How Chemistry Came to Be, from World Scientific Publishing, https://www.worldscientific.com/worldscibooks/10.1142/12670#t=aboutBook

In which we explore the various honors and awards available to chemists, starting in high school with the International Chemistry Olympiad, founded during the Cold War; college with Phi Lambda Upsilon; and a variety of awards given to chemists during their professional careers by different chemical societies.

Support the show

• Support my podcast at https://www.patreon.com/thehistoryofchemistry
• Tell me how your life relates to chemistry! E-mail me at [email protected]
• Get my book, O Mg! How Chemistry Came to Be, from World Scientific Publishing, https://www.worldscientific.com/worldscibooks/10.1142/12670#t=aboutBook

In this episode we run through the Greek alphabet and see the history behind each symbol as used in chemistry, from alpha for alpha particles to omega as in omega-fatty acids. We encounter a couple of Greek letters not used as chemical symbols too.

Support the show

• Support my podcast at https://www.patreon.com/thehistoryofchemistry
• Tell me how your life relates to chemistry! E-mail me at [email protected]
• Get my book, O Mg! How Chemistry Came to Be, from World Scientific Publishing, https://www.worldscientific.com/worldscibooks/10.1142/12670#t=aboutBook

While outdoor solar cells make big news, there is a quiet revolution also for solar cells that make do with far less illumination, indoor lighting. We discuss requirements for such photovoltaic cells, matching their sensitivity to various kinds of indoor lamps, and such developments in the last couple of decades. We discuss research into various materials for these low-light panels. Finally, we shift gears and learn about new batteries that work inside bodies, using the body fluids as electrolytes.

Support the show

• Support my podcast at https://www.patreon.com/thehistoryofchemistry
• Tell me how your life relates to chemistry! E-mail me at [email protected]
• Get my book, O Mg! How Chemistry Came to Be, from World Scientific Publishing, https://www.worldscientific.com/worldscibooks/10.1142/12670#t=aboutBook

Chemistry can be fun, too, so we explore some of historical satirical art about chemistry, humor based on nonsensical molecular structures, actual compounds with funny chemical names, and even compounds with humorous molecular structures. We discuss chemistry-related parody songs, plus a bonus of me singing an actual song from 1901. We hear of some chemistry games designed to teach students. From there we move on to chemistry dad jokes and puns (hey, I am a dad), and chemistry in the Journal of Irreproducible Results and the annual Ig Nobel Prize. Patreon supporters of this podcast may download a supplemental sheet with some illustrations of topics I discuss in this episode, so join now to see it!

Support the show

• Support my podcast at https://www.patreon.com/thehistoryofchemistry
• Tell me how your life relates to chemistry! E-mail me at [email protected]
• Get my book, O Mg! How Chemistry Came to Be, from World Scientific Publishing, https://www.worldscientific.com/worldscibooks/10.1142/12670#t=aboutBook