Distillations magazine

Sometimes scientific discovery requires an unusual tool.

The rise of synthetic color and the scientists and designers who tried to save society from itself.

Fancy some alchemical recipes from 15th-century Italy?

The man who wanted to make the United States a healthier place and the sometimes fuzzy line between science and quackery.

How hard can it be to make a gemstone? Plenty hard. People have been trying for almost 2,000 years, but success finally beckoned in 19th-century France.

For decades serious people have tried to turn the stuff of science fiction—space colonies, self-replicating machines, and solar sails—into scientific reality.

A Confederate doctor had no problem breaking the Hippocratic oath.

How a machine used to create atom bombs became a tool for healing.

Three atmospheric scientists describe carrying their work beyond the lab.

What most frightened the Nobel Prize–winning chemist and explorer of Earth’s deep past?

Whale oil has been used in soap, explosives, and even margarine. Has it also fueled space exploration?

What does a world short on phosphorous look like?

The early 20th century was an especially rich time for creating ways to process and preserve food.

Mix a 19th-century chemist with a South American roader builder. Add cows and boil.

Discover the history of the EpiPen.

During the Civil War necessity drove the North and South to develop different strategies for dealing with malaria.

The magnetic connection between sailors, adultery, and garlic.

Three Hungarian scientists who survived the Nazi occupation of their country and escaped Soviet oppression.