Maison Française, Oxford (17-19 July 2014)

This is the fourth conference of the project Sites of Chemistry, 1600-2000 which investigates the multitude of sites, spaces and places where chemistry has been practiced since the beginning of the 17th century. It is part of a series of four annual conferences each devoted to a particular century. A final conference will be held in 2015 to explore themes and developments over the whole period and on a broader comparative scale. Selected papers from each conference will be published in special issues of Ambix, and two volumes of essays will be published at the end of the project. The project is supported financially by the Wellcome Trust for the History of Medicine and is sponsored by the Society for the History of Alchemy and Chemistry. Full details on the general project as well as on the past conferences are available at www.sitesofchemistry.org.

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At the 24th International Congress of History of Science, Technology and Medicine (University of Manchester, July 21-28, 2013), Andrea Sella—professor of chemistry at UCL—will demonstrate some of the strange properties of plain, everyday water ice.

To learn more about this SHAC-sponsored event, download the flyer here. For further information, do not hesitate to contact Dr Anna Marie Roos, Honorary Secretary of SHAC.

Every year, the SHAC Graduate Network organises an international workshop to provide training on research skills and methodology for graduate students and early career researchers.  This year the theme of our workshop will be ‘Alchemy and Chemistry in Context’  and will explore the extent to which chemical knowledge has been shaped by its social, economic, religious and cultural contexts, across a range of historical periods – from medieval alchemy to the chemical industry. The meeting will take place on the 26 October 2013 at the Keynes Library, Birkbeck, London. Our keynote speakers will be Dr Stephen Clucas, Reader in Early Modern Intellectual History, Birkbeck College, University of London, and Prof John Christie, University of Oxford and Leeds.

We would now like to invite 15-20 minute presentations on topics related to the theme in any historical period. To present, please submit an abstract of about 200 words by e-mail to the lead organiser, Jo Hedesan, georgianahedesan@yahoo.com by 30 June 2013. Presenters should be current postgraduate students or junior researchers (within 3 years of completion of the PhD).

Topics might include:

• Alchemy and chemistry in society
• Patronage and support
• Impact of alchemy and chemistry on culture or society
• Social, cultural and economic influence on alchemical and chemical theory and practice
• Alchemy and chemistry’s interaction with other disciplines

The Workshop is free of charge. Bursaries are available towards the cost of travel and/or accommodation for accepted presenters in the first instance. For further details and other queries, please contact the lead organiser, Jo Hedesan at georgianahedesan@yahoo.com.

This year, the Society launches Sources of Alchemy and Chemistry, a new series of supplements to Ambix. These will offer critical editions and English translations of important works in the history of chemistry, including works composed in Greek, Syriac, Arabic, Hebrew and Latin. These editions will showcase the best and most up-to-date scholarship on early chemical writings, offering new insight into the origins of alchemy, chemistry and chemical technology. To mark the occasion, the SHAC Spring Meeting explored new work in these fields, using sources that are not yet available in modern editions.

The Meeting took place on the 16 March between 12.30 and 17.30 at Richard Eden Room, Gillian Beer House, Clare Hall (West Court site), Cambridge. The programme is outlined below:

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