Distillations magazine
Distillations articles reveal science’s powerful influence on our lives, past and present.
Women’s Business: 17th-Century Female Pharmacists
Although many were skilled in making medicinal home remedies, only a few women ran their own apothecaries, competing with males for the right to prescribe medicines.
Bad Air
Malaria and the benefits and pitfalls of government-funded biomedical research.
Salt’s Fat Chance
Are salt alternatives scarier than the substance they are replacing? A brief history of a “terrifying” food.
Artificial Clouds and Inflammable Air: The Science and Spectacle of the First Balloon Flights, 1783
The first balloons, both hot-air and hydrogen powered, drew spectacular crowds and set off a craze—balloonomania!
Prefiguring the Arsenic Wars
An 1828 murder trial provides insight into the moral ambiguity of forensic science and scientific testimony.
Chemistry’s Outer Limits
Svante Arrhenius was one of the founders of modern physical chemistry. His later work cosmological work carried him beyond the scientific limits of many of his colleagues.
Amphetamine’s Missing History
David Healy reviews Nicholas Rasmussen’s On Speed: The Many Lives of Amphetamine.
Aspirin: Turn-of-the-Century Miracle Drug
Aspirin has had a long history as a pain reliever—2,000 years of history. But only in the 1970s did scientists begin to uncover its chemical secrets.
The Secret of Max Perutz’s Life
A personal portrait of the Nobel prize-winning crystallographer.
Understanding Pharmaceutical Relations and the Limits of Regulatory Reform
Interactions between the pharmaceutical industry, the biomedical sciences, and legislators is a longstanding hot topic in Washington.
The Lingering Heat over Pasteurized Milk
The history of pasteurization and the controversy surrounding it demonstrate the complexity of milk as a chemical substance.
Sealed with a Wrap
Cellophane celebrates its 100th anniversary with a comeback, after losing out to cheaper imitations in the 1970s.
Social Scientist
Assessing J. Robert Oppenheimer as a leader.
Scientia Vitis: Decanting the Chemistry of Wine Flavor
Scientists have only recently begun to investigate the chemical components that give wines their distinct and complex flavors.
Christmas at Hanford
How 50,000 people tried to maintain a normal existence while living in isolation at the largest the Manhattan Project site.
Science and Celebrity: Humphry Davy’s Rising Star
Part experimenter and part entertainer, Humphry Davy was a 19th-century icon.
The First Century of Chemical Engineering
The founding of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers represented the beginning of American technological dominance in the 20th century.
Nylon: A Revolution in Textiles
The invention of nylon in 1938 promised sleekness and practicality for women and soon ushered in a textile revolution for consumers and the military alike.