The History of Chemistry

• 160: Reuse It or Lose It

  We look at the history of some recent problems in recycling materials. First we examine the history of wind farms, and how to recycle the fan blades. Second we talk about recent history and problems of recycling polyethylene terephthalate. Then we discuss the persistent and growing problem of electronics waste. Finally, we briefly touch on recycling of spent batteries.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

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• 159: Suck It Up, Buttercup!

  Given the environmental catastrophe into which we now zombie-walk, here is a bit about the history of extracting greenhouse gases directly from the air. Extracting carbon dioxide from the atmosphere began in the 1930s, but proposals to do it environmentally only began about 25 years ago, with the first large-scale systems appearing in the 2020s. We also talk a little about pulling a worse gas, methane, from the atmosphere.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

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• 158: It's a Gas

  We hear about the history of hydrogen gas as a fuel, starting in the early 1800s with François Isaac de Rivaz. We continue through the 19th and 20th centuries, with dual-burning vehicles, airplanes, and fuel-cells. We talk of advantages and disadvantages of such engines, and the ecological spectrum of hydrogen gas.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

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• 157: Cain and Abel

  In which we talk about the history of differently abled chemists, from around the year 1600 to the present. We mention some differently abled chemists, and how the American Chemical Society and Royal Society of Chemistry handle things, plus hope for continued improvement in the future.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

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• 156: Quantum Love

  We hear about the recent history of quantum computing to do quantum calculations on molecules. First we briefly discuss different types of computers. Then we talk about the kinds of calculations chemists want to do with quantum computers. We also learn about some ways chemists currently use to simplify the mathematics for quantum calculations.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

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