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Posted by: Natalie Burclaff
The lyrics to the holiday hit song "Santa Baby" feature a wish list of expensive things, but platinum is the only item in the song that the United States government considers a critical material. Unwrap the history of this important metal at the Library of Congress.
Posted by: Jennifer Harbster
A look at the history of food adulteration in the U.S. at the turn of the 20th century and the actions that lend to enact legislation for food standards.
Posted in: Chemistry, Cookbooks and Food, Science
Posted by: Nate Smith
PSL season is upon us. Regardless of how you feel about pumpkins or spices, there's no denying that the molecule at the heart of all espresso-based beverages is quite remarkable.
Posted in: Chemistry, Cookbooks and Food, Science
Posted by: Nate Smith
This chemistry book from 1857 not only describes chemical reactions, it shows them with beautiful illustrations!
Posted in: Chemistry, Favorites From the Fifth Floor, History of Science and Technology, Science
Posted by: Nate Smith
African American chemists Alice Ball, Norbert Rillieux, Marie Maynard Daly, and Percy Julius made significant contributions to chemistry and helped shape the world we know today.
Posted in: African American History, Chemistry, Inventions, Science
Posted by: Nate Smith
"Sticking with Chemistry" is the theme for National Chemistry Week 2020 and as you may be able to guess, the focus is on adhesives.
Posted in: Chemistry, Inventions, Science
Posted by: Ellen Terrell
This post was written by Science Reference Specialist Nate Smith. This year marks the 150th anniversary of one of the most important breakthroughs in the field of chemistry: the Periodic Table of Elements. While there have been over 700 distinct iterations of the table (Scerri, 20), the first tables that explicitly showed periodicity were created …
Posted in: Chemistry, History of Science and Technology, Inventions, Science
Posted by: Jennifer Harbster
There is scarcely any subject that has so many practical and scientific aspects as the subject of color (Henry LeFavour, Elementary Color, 1895:p1) There are many ways to study color*. We can trace the history of color pigments, the development of color chemistry, the effect of color on our psyche, and the perception of color. …
Posted in: Chemistry, Favorites From the Fifth Floor
Posted by: Jennifer Harbster
Today’s post is guest authored by Michelle Cadoree Bradley, a science reference specialist in the Science, Technology, and Business Division of the Library of Congress. She is also the author of the blog posts George Washington Carver and Nature Study and Stumbled Upon in the Stacks, or the Chimp in my Office. On May …
Posted in: Biography, Chemistry, Guest Blog Posts, Women's History
