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Bonus: There’s more to James Harris’s story

Bonus: There’s more to James Harris’s story

FromStereo Chemistry


Bonus: There’s more to James Harris’s story

FromStereo Chemistry

ratings:
Length:
46 minutes
Released:
Apr 27, 2022
Format:
Podcast episode

Description

Chemists may know James Harris as the first Black scientist to be credited with codiscovering an element. In fact, we referenced this in a previous episode of Stereo Chemistry about making superheavy elements. But beyond this memorable factoid, details about the accomplished nuclear chemist are scarce, and most sources repeat the same superficial information. Kristen Frederick-Frost, curator of modern science at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History, wants to change that. After discovering that the museum's database lacked material on Harris, she scoured archival records and sought out former colleagues, friends, and family members to fill in details of his life and career. In this bonus episode of Stereo Chemistry, host Kerri Jansen and special guest Dr. Darryl Boyd join Frederick-Frost to explore James Harris’s story beyond the discoveries that made him famous. And we even get an unexpected peek into his lab, courtesy of the US National Archives. Boyd, a polymer chemist, previously researched James Harris while writing a short article for C&EN’s “Black Chemists You Should Know About.” A transcript of this episode is available at bit.ly/37P0qpY. Image credit: Steve Gerber/Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory  © 2010 The Regents of the University of California, through the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Music credit: "Just Enough for a Heartbeat" by Roy Young Contact Stereo Chemistry by emailing cenfeedback@acs.org.
Released:
Apr 27, 2022
Format:
Podcast episode

Titles in the series (83)

Stereo Chemistry shares voices and stories from the world of chemistry. The show is created by the reporters and editors at Chemical & Engineering News (C&EN), an independent news outlet published by the American Chemical Society.