The work presented and discussed at each annual conference will provide
the opportunity to explore and compare (both geographically and
temporally) particular sites of chemistry. The conferences will also provide
the opportunity to explore the wider social, economic, political and cultural
contexts for chemistry and the wider forces and influences that were at work
on it. This will be done through detailed examination of the physical and
social sites where chemical actors encountered and engaged with those
operating in these wider spheres, whether they were other scientists, political
figures, bureaucrats, administrators, industrialists, craftsmen, physicians or
engineers.
The immediate focus of each conference will be on microhistories,
comparative analysis and developments over the short to medium term.
Papers from each annual conference will be published as special issues of
the journal Ambix. At the end of the project a collection of commissioned
essays exploring developments over the long-term and in geographical
breadth will be published as Places and Spaces: Historical Perspectives on
the Practice of Chemistry. The papers on chemistry and medicine will be
published as Chemical Spaces and Medical Practices, 1600-2000.
The emphasis will be mainly, but not exclusively, on chemistry in Europe.
The organizers are particularly keen for graduate students and new
researchers to participate in the project.
The first conference, on eighteenth century sites of chemistry, will be held at
the Maison Française d’Oxford, 4-5 July 2011.
The project is run by a co-ordinating committee: Antonio Belmar (Alicante),
Marco Beretta (Florence), Ernst Homburg (Maastricht), Muriel Le Roux
(Paris/Oxford) and John Perkins (Oxford). The committee is supported by a
steering group: Bernadette Bensaude-Vincent (Paris), Jose Ramon Bertomeu
(Barcelona), Ana Carneiro (Lisbon), John Christie (Oxford), Stephen
Johnston (Oxford), Bernard Joly (Lille), Ursula Klein (Berlin), Peter Morris
(London), Faidra Papanelopoulou (Athens), Larry Principe (Johns Hopkins),
Viviane Quirke, (Oxford), Carsten Reinhardt (Bielefeld), Lissa Roberts
(Twente) and Geert Vanpaemel (Louvain).
For further information contact John Perkins, jperkins@brookes.ac.uk, and
Antonio Belmar, belmar@ua.es.
Extracts from Fall 2010 Newsletter
Message from Jan Hayes, HIST Division Chair 2009-2010
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It is hard to believe that this is my last newsletter report to you as chair of
HIST. Thank you all for being a part of this wonderful part of ACS. The past
two years have been a time of change for HIST, for ACS, and for most of us
as professionals and individuals.
What has happened and what is coming for HIST?
1) Meeting programming: Seth Rasmussen has done a wonderful job as our
new program chair. He has tried to encourage new and different
programming for our national meetings. I encourage each of you to work
with him to bring new symposia into our future national meetings and to
regional meetings. Archaeological Chemistry symposia have been a
reoccurring feature in HIST. There is a group interested in organizing the
Twelfth Symposium. Are you interested in being a part of this? If so, please
contact Joe Lambert, Ruth Ann Armitage, James Burton, Kathryn Jakes
(kjakes@ehe.osu.edu),
and/or
Tom
Strom,
2011
HIST
Chair
(tomstrom@juno.com). We would like to add co-sponsoring divisions, so we
need your help. Spring 2009 ACS meeting was the initial presentation of a
planned semi-regular series of symposia on the Science and Legacy of
Former ACS Presidents. The first program was honouring Henry Eyring of
the University of Utah. At the Fall 2010 meeting, HIST will present, with
co-sponsor WCC, the second of the series honouring Anna Jane Harrison of
Mt. Holyoke College, the first woman ACS president.
2) New Bulletin Editor: We are pleased to announce that Carmen Guinta, a
current associate editor of the Bulletin, has agreed to follow Paul Jones and
become our new Bulletin Editor. There are insufficient words to express our
gratitude to Paul for his leadership and hard work as the Editor. We know
that Carmen will continue in reaching the high standards which our journal
has reached. But Paul promises he will not go away but still stay active in
HIST as this assignment closes. Thank you Paul.
3) Awards: As you may be aware, no Edelstein Award will be given in 2010
as a result of changes in funding. Starting in 2010, we will change the title of
this award to the HIST Award for Outstanding Achievement in the History
of Chemistry, established by Sidney M. Edelstein, with support from Vera
Mainz and Gregory Girolami and the Chemical Heritage Foundation.
Information will be available on the HIST website for details on nominations
for the 2011 HIST Award.
http://www.scs.illinois.edu/~mainzv/HIST/index.php
We are continuing with our other two awards for Outstanding Papers in The
Bulletin and recognitions of Citations for Chemical Breakthroughs.
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