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Chemical

NIST building
Society: ACSMain Category: ChemicalSub Category: Cradles of ChemistryEra: 1900sDateCreated: 1901National Institute of Standards and TechnologyGaithersburgState: MDCountry: USAWebsite: https://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/education/whatischemistry/landmarks/nist.html

The federal government’s first physical science research laboratory was chartered by Congress on March 3, 1901, as the National Bureau of Standards, which became the National Institute of Standards and Technology in 1988. Recognizing the critical importance of chemical measures and standards, NIST established the Chemistry Division as one of its first programs.

YearAdded:
2001
Image Caption: NIST Advanced Measurement Laboratory (AML) building Gaitherburg, MD. The NIST Advanced Measurement Laboratory building was designed by HDR Architecture Inc., and built by Clark/Gilford, Joint Venture. Construction began on the building on June 9, 2000 and it was completed by June 2004.
Mellon Institute of Industrial Research,
Society: ACSMain Category: ChemicalSub Category: EducationEra: 1930-1939DateCreated: 19374400 Fifth AvePittsburghState: PACountry: USAWebsite: https://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/education/whatischemistry/landmarks/mellon-institute.html

Prior to its merger with the Carnegie Institute of Technology in 1967 to form Carnegie Mellon University, the nonprofit Mellon Institute for Industrial Research was a major, independent research corporation dedicated to promoting applied research for industry and educating scientific researchers for the benefit of society as a whole. The Institute educated hundreds of fellows for careers in industrial research and helped to sell the very idea of research to manufacturers.

YearAdded:
2013
Image Credit: Courtesy Wikicommons/Piotrus (CC BY-SA 3.0)Image Caption: Mellon Institute, CMU
Rachel Carson
Society: ACSMain Category: ChemicalSub Category: EducationEra: 1960sDateCreated: 1962Chatham UniversityPittsburghState: PACountry: USAWebsite: https://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/education/whatischemistry/landmarks/rachel-carson-silent-spring.htmlCreator: Carson, Rachel

Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring, published in 1962, was a landmark in the development of the modern environmental movement. Carson’s scientific perspective and rigor created a work of substantial depth and credibility that sparked widespread debate within the scientific community and the broader public about the effect of pesticides on the natural world. These discussions led to new policies that protect our air, our water, and, ultimately, our health and safety.

YearAdded:
2012
Image Caption: Rachel Louise Carson (May 27, 1907 – April 14, 1964) was an American marine biologist, author, and conservationist whose book Silent Spring and other writings are credited with advancing the global environmental movement.
John W. Draper
Society: ACSMain Category: ChemicalSub Category: People and OrganizationsEra: 1870-1879DateCreated: 1876New York UniversityNew York CityState: NYCountry: USAWebsite: https://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/education/whatischemistry/landmarks/draperacs.htmlCreator: Draper, John W.

The American Chemical Society, the world’s largest scientific society, celebrated its 125th anniversary in 2001. Founded in 1876 in New York City, the Society now has 186 local sections in all 50 states, international chapters, and 32 technical divisions that bring together scientists with interests ranging from small business to environmental protection.

 

The text of the plaque commemorating the landmark reads:

YearAdded:
2001
Image Credit: public domainImage Caption: Portrait of John W. Draper, unknown date
Izaak Maurits Kolthoff
Society: ACSMain Category: ChemicalSub Category: Frontiers of KnowledgeEra: 1930sUniversity of MinnesotaMinneapolisState: MNCountry: USAWebsite: https://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/education/whatischemistry/landmarks/kolthoff-analytical-chemistry.htmlCreator: Kolthoff, Izaak Maurits

Izaak Maurits Kolthoff (1894–1993) has been described as the father of modern analytical chemistry for his research and teaching that transformed the ways by which scientists separate, identify, and quantify chemical substances. Once a collection of empirical recipes and prescriptions, the field of analytical chemistry is today an essential branch of chemistry built upon solid theoretical principles and experimental techniques, the basis of which was formed over the course of Kolthoff’s nearly 80-year career.

YearAdded:
2014
Image Credit: Courtesy of University of Minnesota Archives, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities. Image Caption: Izaak Maurits Kolthoff in his laboratory in 1950.
Mariner 6 and 7 spacecraft
Society: ACSMain Category: ChemicalSub Category: Lasers & ElectroopticsEra: 1960sDateCreated: 1969University of California, BerkeleyBerkeleyState: CACountry: USAWebsite: https://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/education/whatischemistry/landmarks/mars-infrared-spectrometer.htmlCreator: Pimentel, George, Herr, Kenneth

As much as we know today about the planets of the solar system, it’s almost incomprehensible that a mere 50 years ago we knew almost nothing about them. Observations of even Mars and Venus, Earth’s closest planetary neighbors, through Earth-based telescopes had provided only the most rudimentary information on their physical characteristics and essentially no information on the chemical properties of the planets and their atmospheres.

YearAdded:
2017
Image Caption: Mariner 6 and 7
The Keeling Curve, December 2014
Society: ACSMain Category: ChemicalSub Category: Frontiers of KnowledgeEra: 1950sDateCreated: 1950-1969Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of CaliforniaLa JollaState: CACountry: USAWebsite: https://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/education/whatischemistry/landmarks/keeling-curve.htmlCreator: Keeling, Charles David

Charles David Keeling of Scripps Institution of Oceanography was the leading authority in establishing the global atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) record. In 1958, Keeling began measuring atmospheric CO2 con­centrations from Hawaii’s Mauna Loa Observatory. Using rigorous analytical procedures, he revealed new information about natural and man-caused carbon trends.

YearAdded:
2015
Image Credit: Courtesy Wikicommons/Scrippsnews (CC BY-SA 4.0)Image Caption: The Keeling Curve, December 2014
frozen foods
Society: ACSMain Category: ChemicalSub Category: Food ProcessingEra: 1950sDateCreated: 1957Western Regional Research CenterAlbanyState: CACountry: USAWebsite: https://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/education/whatischemistry/landmarks/frozenfoods.htmlCreator: Western Regional Research Center

Frozen foods have become a staple of the modern diet. Freezing allows consumers to have access to foods previously unavailable or available only seasonally, and it provides convenience for many families. But frozen foods became commonplace only after World War II, in part due to research conducted at the Western Regional Research Center which helped determine the proper time and temperature at which various foods should be frozen to insure their quality and stability.

 

The plaque commemorating the research reads:

YearAdded:
2002
Image Credit: Courtesy USDA/Scott Bauer (CC BY 2.0)Image Caption: Examples of frozen foods
Roy Teranishi
Society: ACSMain Category: ChemicalDateCreated: 1956Western Regional Research CenterAlbanyState: CACountry: USAWebsite: https://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/education/whatischemistry/landmarks/usda-flavor-chemistry.htmlCreator: Western Regional Research Center

Flavor—encompassing both aroma and taste—provides the defining characteristic of how we experience food. Flavor has long been an enigma to scientists: Aristotle described two categories of taste, sweet and bitter. Today we recognize five basic tastes in food: sweetness, saltiness, sourness, bitterness and umami (savory). But what are the scientific components of flavor, and how can flavor be studied, quantified and replicated?

 

YearAdded:
2013
Image Credit: Photo by USDA-ARImage Caption: Roy Teranishi samples the headspace over fresh grapes before injecting a sample into a gas chromatograph.
river blindness
Society: ACSMain Category: ChemicalSub Category: MedicalDateCreated: 1987Merck & Co., Inc.RockvilleState: MDCountry: USAWebsite: https://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/education/whatischemistry/landmarks/ivermectin-mectizan.htmlCreator: Merck Research Labs

The story is so improbable it defies belief: a soil sample from Japan stops suffering in Africa. It starts when a scientist discovers a lowly bacterium near a golf course outside Tokyo. A team of scientists in the United States finds that the bacterium produces compounds that impede the activity of nematode worms. It is developed into a drug that wards off parasites in countless pets and farm animals, averting billions of dollars in losses worldwide.

YearAdded:
2016
Image Credit: Courtesy Wikicommons/현태웅 (CC BY-SA 4.0)Image Caption: A young man affected by onchocerciasis - river blindness
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