http://fellows.chemheritage.org Ship of Fellows is the Fellowship Blog at the Chemical Heritage Foundation (CHF). CHF's fellowship program brings together pre- and post-doctoral scholars from all over the world. Their common denominator is research on the history of chemistry. Their navigation through the history of science community in the Philadelphia area and the scholarly community at CHF provide much of the material for this blog. Mon, 16 Nov 2009 05:12:49 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en [caption id="attachment_348" align="aligncenter" width="477" caption="Ship of Fools (1506), from the Othmer Library"][/caption]   Man overboard! Alexis Smets left the Ship of Fellows after finishing his short-term fellowship at the end of October. Otherwise, however, the Ship is sailing along smoothly, and the crew is busy scrubbing the decks (i.e., reading everything in ... http://fellows.chemheritage.org/?p=347 The art of bending oneself into unbelievable and sometimes even unmentionable shapes, also known as yoga, seems to be everywhere these days. Correction: it is everywhere, including the Chemical Heritage Foundation! For our fellows, young minds striving to untangle the chaos of chemical history, the practice of yoga is particularly ... http://fellows.chemheritage.org/?p=334 Like any institution worth its sodium chloride, →CHF is awash with acronyms and backronyms* that confuse outsiders and insiders alike. In order to add to the confusion and unlock hitherto unsourced potential for further puzzlement, here is a short glossary to terms our fellows encounter and master in their everyday ... http://fellows.chemheritage.org/?p=319 Once upon a time, a Fearless Fellowship Leader and her 7 merry long-term fellows went, hi-ho, off to work. They wrote, thought, cogitated, wrote some more, followed their minds, and then wrote even more lovely academic prose. They had almost nothing in common, except for a  passion for the history of chemistry. ... http://fellows.chemheritage.org/?p=304 Predoctoral Price Fellow Benjamin Gross (Princeton University) works on the history of LCDs (liquid crystal displays). The Ship of Fellows sailed across the corridor to ask him a few provocative questions. The following interview is reconstructed from the Fearless Fellowship Leader’s memory. . . . [caption id="attachment_298" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Ben Gross"][/caption] Why ... http://fellows.chemheritage.org/?p=296 They dine! [caption id="attachment_289" align="aligncenter" width="461" caption="Tapas to Dine For!"][/caption]   [caption id="attachment_290" align="aligncenter" width="461" caption="Fellows' Dinner at Amada, October 2009"][/caption] http://fellows.chemheritage.org/?p=288 You will have to excuse the Fearless Fellowship Leader when she states that Dr. Martelli’s research is Greek to her: he does research on ancient Greek alchemy. In fact, Matteo Martelli's work is a truly international affair. The object of Matteo’s reflection is the 1st-century writer now known as pseudo-Democritus, ... http://fellows.chemheritage.org/?p=281 Museum Anniversary, 2 October 2009, involving fellows . . . and the Periodic Table of Cupcakes! [caption id="attachment_269" align="aligncenter" width="448" caption="The Periodic Table of Cupcakes"][/caption]   [caption id="attachment_270" align="aligncenter" width="448" caption="Nitrogen: nonmetallic goodness!"][/caption]   [caption id="attachment_272" align="aligncenter" width="336" caption="Stibium: appetizing antimony!"][/caption]   [caption id="attachment_273" align="aligncenter" width="448" caption="Mercury: alchemical alimentation?"][/caption]   A big thanks to Ben Gross for the images! http://fellows.chemheritage.org/?p=267 With his degrees in biology & society and creative writing, and a good deal of published poetry under his belt, Matthew Shindell, our Predoctoral Haas Fellow, may not seem to be an obvious candidate for a CHF fellowship. Yet his current research, which will eventually earn him a Ph.D. in ... http://fellows.chemheritage.org/?p=245 Contrary to what some might think, given that CHF emphasizes the history of chemistry rather than any other discipline, we do like sociologists. After last year’s wonderful input to the scholarly community by the 2008-09 Haas fellow David Schleifer (whose intricate thoughts on trans fats and the food industry continue ... http://fellows.chemheritage.org/?p=237