Distillations magazine

Before today’s cell-phone, laptop, and TV screens, there was a whiskey advertisement.

When William Aspdin stumbled on the secret to modern concrete, it was the first and one of the few fortuitous steps in an unsteady life.

A tour through the history of radioisotopes, used to study and treat disease and to unlock the secrets of DNA and photosynthesis.

John Hughes worked his way through uncounted pig brains to find the human body’s natural painkiller.

Studying ancient DNA (aDNA) is a lot like playing Whac-A-Mole: stamp out one problem and another will pop up and take its place.

Winter’s coming, so wrap up and discover the history of home insulation.

Nikola Tesla’s career epitomizes the scientist as showman.

In the 1980s Phil Allegretti found an unusual hobby. His collection of old DDT cans, sprayers, and diffusers tells the story of our contradictory approach to pesticides.

Can scientists bring the woolly mammoth back from extinction? And should they?

Sometimes scientific discovery requires an unusual tool.

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

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

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.

Follow the birth, life, and demise of the Hercules Powder Company, which once dominated the explosives industry in the United States.