Sofiya Kamalova
The Ardystil Syndrome Case: when chemicals cross through textile factory, hospital and laboratory
The “Ardystil case” is an occupational intoxication which took place in the Alicante region (Spain) in the early 1990s, in textile...
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Francesca Bellazzi
- Sep 7
- 5 min
Genes: from instruments of thought to the base of life
Does the way we think about scientific entities matter to scientific practice?
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Armel Cornu
- Aug 23
- 7 min
How do we know when water is safe to drink? The early modern origins of water analysis
In areas where clean drinking water is available on tap, it can be easy to forget what a monumental achievement water safety is. This...
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James Ladyman & Vanessa Seifert
- May 24
- 5 min
The contributions of Geoffrey Blumenthal: From Copernicus’s astronomy to Lavoisier’s chemistry
The contributions of Geoffrey Blumenthal to the history and philosophy of science
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Francesca Bellazzi
- May 5
- 6 min
The superpowers of proteins
Nowadays we all care about our proteins. Supermarket products proudly show the amount of proteins they contain and we are all somehow...
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Marina Paola Banchetti-Robino
- Apr 15
- 5 min
Beyond Cartesian Mechanicism: Robert Boyle’s Chemical Philosophy
Central themes of Marina Paola Banchetti-Robino's book "The Chemical Philosophy of Robert Boyle: Mechanicism, Chymical Atoms, and Emergence"
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Alison McManus
- Feb 14
- 8 min
Was the Invention of Agent Orange an Invention at All?
Agent Orange was born from the knowledge that certain known substances kill plants. But could this knowledge claim constitute an invention?
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Jonathon Hricko
- Jan 20
- 4 min
The True Story of How a False Theory Led to the Discovery of Boron
Can false theories successfully predict previously unknown phenomena? This post discusses one such example: the discovery of boron.
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Marabel Riesmeier
- Nov 26, 2021
- 5 min
Understanding chemical substance (is harder than you might think)
What is a chemical substance? In this post, Marabel Riesmeier argues that answering this question is more complicated than one might think.
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Sarah Hijmans
- Nov 9, 2021
- 6 min
How to identify simple substances: chlorine vs. oxymuriatic acid
How are simple substances identified when it is difficult to tell whether a substance has been decomposed or not?
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Megan Piorko
- Oct 26, 2021
- 3 min
Cipher Treasure Hunt Part II: A Secret Key Hidden in Plain Sight
Megan Piorko updates us on the quest to solve a historical cipher. It turns out the secret key was hidden in plain sight...
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Megan Piorko & Sarah Lang
- Jun 29, 2021
- 4 min
Cipher Treasure Hunt
In this post, Megan Piorko and Sarah Lang take us along on their alchemical quest to solve a historical cipher.
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Chris Campbell
- Jun 7, 2021
- 4 min
Are chemical models iconic?
Accounts of how diagrams and models represent scientific objects, such as molecules and crystal structures, can be captured under two...
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Hernán Accorinti and Juan Camilo Martínez González
- Apr 9, 2021
- 4 min
Are chemical models representative?
Challenging the traditional theory-centered view, the philosophy of science of the last decades has directed its attention to models.
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Alexander Franklin
- Mar 26, 2021
- 5 min
From Molecules to Many Worlds
This essay is about a problem that besets chemists’ explanation of how molecular structure comes about.
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Juan Camilo Martínez González & Olimpia Lombardi
- Mar 1, 2021
- 5 min
The ontological breakdown between molecular chemistry and quantum mechanics
One of the hottest topics in the philosophy of chemistry is the relationship between chemistry and physics.
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Karoliina Pulkkinen
- Nov 23, 2020
- 4 min
Cloudbusting
Consider the clouds. Then consider those who consider clouds. Cloud-spotters, meteorologists, and atmospheric scientists come to mind....
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Sarah Hijmans
- Nov 2, 2020
- 6 min
Who Discovered Aluminium - and why is that such a difficult question?
Starting from the history of aluminium, this piece reflects on the nature of scientific discovery.
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Katy Duncan
- Oct 19, 2020
- 8 min
Electrolysis and Education: Learning Models not Facts
In this piece, Katy Duncan explores the seemingly contradictory ways we teach the electrolysis of water to teenagers.
241 views0 comments
Vanessa Seifert
- Oct 6, 2020
- 5 min
Strong Emergence in Chemistry
The debate about chemistry’s relation to quantum physics has been a persisting one. Is chemistry reduced to quantum physics or is there...
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