Distillations magazine
Controversy, Control, and Cosmetics in Early Modern Italy
In a society that damned women for both plainness and adornment, wearing makeup became a defiant act of survival.
Distillations articles reveal science’s powerful influence on our lives, past and present.
Stradivari and the Search for Brilliance
Can science tell us what makes a Stradivarius so special?
Concrete Solutions
Making eco-friendly cement is easy; the hard part comes later.
Data from Disaster
Many tragic accidents have provided unexpectedly valuable information for scientists.
Greetings from Isotopia
Why would anyone visit a radioactive ghost town or the remnants of a nuclear reactor?
Our Mutual Friend
Candy stores in the 19th century sold sweets as deadly as they were delicious.
The Birds, the Bees, and the Froggies
A globe-hopping doctor and a weird amphibian produce a fast, inexpensive pregnancy test.
Science and Disability
Scientists with disabilities have frequently faced intolerance and prejudice in their careers.
A History of Violence
A painting bears the mark of Nazi brutality but also speaks to our capacity for kindness and bravery.
Ingredients for Success
Is the mayonnaise substitute Just Mayo the future of food or just another product from the hype machine?
Feast or Famine
GMOs are one of the great success stories of the postwar era. So why do many find this technology so distasteful?
Ladies Who Launch
Computers have always been central to NASA’s accomplishments: they just used to be women.
Love, Peace, and Technoscience
Hippies of the 1960s and 1970s were not necessarily the technophobes they are often made out to be.
The Age of Scurvy
In a time of warring empires and transoceanic voyages, sailors dreaded scurvy more than any other disease.
A Covert Success Story
In the 1950s, a devious oil company created a television show to flatter industrialists and win their business.
A Life in Science
The highs and lows of lab life.
Richard Nixon and the Rise of American Environmentalism
How a Republican president ushered in the EPA.
A Tear Gas Tale
How the chemical agent made the transition from wartime weapon to domestic police tool.
Women’s Work
The jogging craze of the 1970s required a change of equipment.