Lavoisier and Priestley knew each other. Lavoisier himself couldn’t speak English, so his wife Marie was the translator. Lavoisier though didn’t discover oxygen; he realized oxygen’s role in burning.
I talked about the de-emphasis of chemistry in sci-fi in an episode of my podcast “The History of Chemistry.”
Lavoisier read "Memoir on the Nature of the Principle which Combines with Metals during their Calcination and which Increases their Weight" 251 years ago this month (published 1778), studying "fixed air" (CO2). #ChemSky 🧪 Read it here: web.lemoyne.edu/giunta/lavoi...
Who’s doing the ”deeming successful,” and how do they define “success”?
Agreed. Having lived in England for a year, there is nothing like a ploughman’s lunch with a real chunk of real Cheddar.
He *already* leads a cult of personality
Pencil on paper drawing of wineglass.
Photograph of corresponding wineglass on wooden table
Latest result of drawing challenge with my daughter. The theme is “wineglass.” #artchallenges #drawing #drawsomething #pencildrawing
I do all sorts of intersectional things
You beat me to exactly this
Man lecturing to audience in all-purpose room near large-screen TV
This afternoon I gave a jointly sponsored talk (Royal Soc of Chem; Society Hill Synagogue) in Philadelphia for Yom HaShoah: “Dr Stefanie Horovitz: The Isotope Lady,” who proved in WWI that isotopes are real. I can come to your venue too. Just ask. #ChemSky 🧪 #YomHaShoah
Scientists and science have always been political. As a chemist, I think of the contrast between Lavoisier (conservative but science radical) vs Priestley (radical but chemical conservative). Or Linus Pauling. Or Alexander Williamson housing the Chōshu Five from Japan. Or Fritz Haber.
85 years ago this month, Robert Woodward published rules to match structures of certain ketones with their UV absorbance spectra. #ChemSky 🧪 Read the 1st page here: pubs.acs.org/doi/pdf/10.1...
In oh-so-many ways, watching the news about the space flight reminds me of being a kid again.
אַ זיסן פּסח אײַך אַלעמען A sweet Passover to all
Not sure why the image is black to me.
Outdoor sunny image of hand holding an American flag and a “No Kings America” flag.
I did my part today. Did you? #NoKings
Today is the 186th anniversary of Henri Hess's "Recherches thermochimiques" (Bull. sci., Acad. imp. des sci., 8, 257-272
St Petersburg, 1840), on (now-called) Hess's Law. In the text, note the obsolete chemical formulae he used. #ChemSky 🧪 www.chemteam.info/Chem-History...
Video screen showing Stephen Cohen with the caption “James T. Grady—James H. Stack Award for Interpreting Chemistry for the Public”
Image of Stephen Cohen with ACS President and sponsors holding a certificate of award
Stephen Cohen and wife at the gala awards dinner in formal attire
Large bronze disc award inscribed “Stephen M. Cohen 2026”
So on Tuesday at the semiannual American Chemical Society meeting in Atlanta, I was awarded a thing. #Chemsky 🧪
As this year’s winner of the ACS’s Stack-Grady award for communication of chemistry to the public, this is EXACTLY my view.
Atlanta airport after the ACS meeting?
איז זאָלט איר געפֿינען א שמועסקרײַז.
Pencil drawing of armchair, illuminated from the left.
Photograph of light-blue-gray cloth armchair with narrow wooden legs, illuminated from the left.
Latest result of drawing challenge with my daughter. The theme is “furniture.” #artchallenges #drawing #drawsomething #pencildrawing
בלויז אַ ביסל?
הוּוואַ! כ׳האָב ניט געקענט ״קייסעך״. ש׳כּח!
Does kappa-casein count?
92 years ago, Rutherford, et al., published "Transmutation Effects Observed with Heavy Hydrogen," Proc. A (1934) 144 (853): 692–703, giving evidence for tritium production. They used the obsolete term diplogen, not deuterium. #ChemSky 🧪 Read here: royalsocietypublishing.org/rspa/article...
Wondering here about the microplastics generated.
If I recall, the Curies coined the term “radioactivity”, reading from their 1898 paper.
Pencil drawing of a seated teddy bear
Photo of a seated brown teddy bear
My daughter and I just began an art challenge. First theme: stuffed animals. Here is mine. #artchallenges #drawing #drawsomething #pencildrawing
List of 13 rules to reduce intelligibility and communication at talks.
I’ve seen pretty much all of these at talks.