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Steve Cohen

@drstevecohen.bsky.social

460 followers 93 following 320 posts

Chemical history🧪 (podcast “The History of Chemistry”; book “O Mg! How Chemistry Came to Be”)/Author/Jewish music/Yiddish (raised 2 Yiddish-speaking children)/Calligraphy/Genealogy/Etc. Attempts to argue that science isn’t real get you blocked.

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Steve Cohen @drstevecohen.bsky.social · 2d

101 years ago this month, Edmund Stoner published "The Distribution of Electrons among Atomic Levels" in Phil. Mag., the first decent description of the Bohr model atom with quantum numbers--soon leading to the postulation of electron spin. #ChemSky 🧪 Read it here: www.chemteam.info/Chem-History...

Stoner on Electron Filling

www.chemteam.info

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Steve Cohen @drstevecohen.bsky.social · 16d

My latest calligraphic work, the Birkat HaZan: gouache on watercolor paper, scheduled for installation in my dining room. #art #calligraphy #Jewish

Steve Cohen @drstevecohen.bsky.social · 23d

On this date in 1861, Alexander Butlerov gave a talk “Einiges über die chemische Structur der Körper,” printed in Zeit. Chem. Phys., perhaps the first time “chemical structure” was used. #ChemSky 🧪 Read a translation here: web.lemoyne.edu/giunta/butle...

Butlerov

web.lemoyne.edu

Steve Cohen @drstevecohen.bsky.social · 27d

Given I know a little about science communication, I am happy to share this commentary by my grad-school housemate. pubs.aip.org/physicstoday...

Commentary: A defense of science communication

It’s easy to believe that the US scientific community is in crisis. The daily news is full of stories about cuts in funding and oppressive visa restrictions. Or

pubs.aip.org

Steve Cohen @drstevecohen.bsky.social · 28d

In Sept 1874, Jacobus van 't Hoff published his article on how molecules are 3D. "A suggestion looking to the extension into space of the structural formulas at present used in chemistry..." which you can read here: #ChemSky 🧪 www.chemteam.info/Chem-History...

Van 't Hoff on Tetrahedral Carbon

www.chemteam.info

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Steve Cohen @drstevecohen.bsky.social · Sep 11

This month (September) in 1829, Robert Brown published ”Additional Remarks on Active Molecules” in Philosophical Magazine, Series 2, pp 161-6: the discovery of what is now called Brownian Motion. 🧪 #ChemSky www.damtp.cam.ac.uk/user/gold/pd...

www.damtp.cam.ac.uk

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Steve Cohen @drstevecohen.bsky.social · Sep 9

Folx, I have posted the final episode of my podcast, “The History of Chemistry.” Please continue to support it financially on Buzzsprout & Patreon, otherwise it goes away. (Hosting costs money.) 🧪 #ChemSky

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Steve Cohen @drstevecohen.bsky.social · Sep 6

“Let them eat cake”

Steve Cohen @drstevecohen.bsky.social · Sep 3

Last night was my choir, Sharim v’Sharot’s first rehearsal of the season.

25 seated people arranged in a semicircle around a choir director

Steve Cohen @drstevecohen.bsky.social · Sep 2

The latest episode of “The History of Chemistry” is up, on chemically detecting life in other star systems.🧪 #Chemsky

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Steve Cohen @drstevecohen.bsky.social · Aug 22

Newest episode of "The History of Chemistry" podcast: Finding life chemically in our solar system. 🧪

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Steve Cohen @drstevecohen.bsky.social · Aug 19

Folks, I am proud (and floored) to announce that I am the 2026 James T. Grady-James H. Stack Award for Interpreting Chemistry for the Public winner. 🧪

C&EN (Chemical & Engineering News) @cenmag.bsky.social · Aug 18

ACS announces 2026 national award winners

The winners are being acknowledged for their outstanding achievements in chemistry across various fields in the discipline. cen.acs.org/people/award...

ACS announces 2026 national award winners

The winners are being acknowledged for their outstanding achievements in chemistry across various fields in the discipline

cen.acs.org

Steve Cohen @drstevecohen.bsky.social · Aug 17

Latest episode of "The History of Chemistry" podcast for all is on the recent history of molecular machines. Hear about the ancestors of our future molecular overlords! 🧪

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Steve Cohen @drstevecohen.bsky.social · Aug 8

The latest episode of "The History of Chemistry" podcast discusses how phytofarming has developed. 🧪

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Steve Cohen @drstevecohen.bsky.social · Aug 3

Newest post on "The History of Chemistry" podcast is an episode about the history of chemistry 🧪 itself.

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Steve Cohen @drstevecohen.bsky.social · Aug 2

I see no “warning” in the statement. When the AMA refuses to follow this regime in any way, shape, or form, that is a warning.

Steve Cohen @drstevecohen.bsky.social · Jul 30

You could announce that the liar Zeldin is ignoring science and pandering to science-deniers. (I’ve fixed your headline.)

Steve Cohen @drstevecohen.bsky.social · Jul 25

Next episode of "The History of Chemistry" is up: listen to a bit about various awards and honors that chemical organizations bestow.🧪

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Steve Cohen @drstevecohen.bsky.social · Jul 17

New episode of my podcast "The History of Chemistry" is up, on Greek letters used as symbols in chemistry. 🧪

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Steve Cohen @drstevecohen.bsky.social · Jul 14

A couple of weeks ago I was in Stockholm, and I *had* to visit the statue of chemist 🧪 Jöns Jacob Berzelius, who discovered elements, invented modern chemical symbols, and more. Sadly, there is no museum dedicated to him in Stockholm—and there ought to be.

Metal statue of gowned Berzelius on plain stone plinth, surrounded by flowers and gardens, on a sunny cloudless evening. There is a seagull sitting on his metal head.

Steve Cohen @drstevecohen.bsky.social · Jul 12

You may also be interested in my graphic history of chemistry: www.worldscientific.com/worldscibook...

O Mg! How Chemistry Came to Be

www.worldscientific.com

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Steve Cohen @drstevecohen.bsky.social · Jul 11

Time to create a “Real NOAA” organization that publishes such data.

Steve Cohen @drstevecohen.bsky.social · Jul 11

Like I call for the illegally fired CDC people to form a new organization, “Real CDC”, so should any illegally fired NSF people.

Steve Cohen @drstevecohen.bsky.social · Jul 11

Let me know how it goes. What age group? There were many chemists who tried to incorporate history of chemistry into standard chemistry classes, particularly Dr Edgar Fahs Smith at Penn in the early 1900s.

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Steve Cohen @drstevecohen.bsky.social · Jul 11

New episode up for "The History of Chemistry" podcast: on photovoltaic cells that operate under indoor illumination. 🧪

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