The Science History Institute Museum is closed for renovations.
The Othmer Library remains open by appointment.

Jocelyn McDaniel, Bredig Project research curator at the Science History Institute, presented the German Society of Pennsylvania’s 2023 Günther Finke Memorial Lecture.

McDaniel discusses her work translating the Papers of Georg and Max Bredig, a German-language archive acquired by the Institute in 2019. She will also discuss her curation of Science and Survival, the Institute’s outdoor exhibition documenting the Bredig family’s escape from Nazi-occupied Germany.

Spanning the late 19th and 20th centuries, the Bredig collection contains the library, correspondence, and memorabilia of pioneering Jewish German physical chemist Georg Bredig (1868–1944) and his chemist son Max Bredig (1902–1977). The pre-1933 materials document Georg Bredig’s noteworthy scientific career in physical chemistry during the golden age of German science, particularly his contributions to catalysis, the founding of the Bredig arc method, and his vast international collaborations.

Many of his correspondents were also groundbreaking scientists and Nobel laureates, including Svante Arrhenius, Wilhelm Ostwald, Fritz Haber, and Max Planck. The post-1933 papers reveal how Georg and Max Bredig took advantage of their extensive scientific network to escape Germany under the Third Reich. Of note in this part of the archive is correspondence relating to Max Bredig’s courageous endeavors, both independent and collaborative, to help his family and friends in Europe once he was safe in the United States.

About the Speaker

Jocelyn McDaniel is the research curator for the Bredig Project at the Science History Institute. Her responsibilities include translating and curating the Papers of Georg and Max Bredig, a recently digitized collection of correspondence belonging to the German father and son chemists of Jewish descent.

She most recently curated Science and Survival, an outdoor exhibition featuring large-scale reproductions of the collection, which is on display on the Institute’s building façade through April 25, 2023.

McDaniel holds a PhD in German studies from the University of Maryland at College Park, a BA and MA in German literature from the University of Delaware, and a MA in European cultural history from the Universität des Saarlandes. She has also taught German courses at the University of Maryland since 2012.

More events

aerial view of California coast
February 23, 2025
Conferences & Symposia

The Spirit of Asilomar and the Future of Biotechnology

50 years after the Asilomar Conference on Recombinant DNA, experts will gather at the 2025 Cain Conference to reflect on the last half century of biotechnology and matters arising in the field today.

abstraction of textile raw materials
March 10, 2025
Science on Tap

Who Grows Your Clothes?

The cofounders of PA Fibershed explore the environmental and social impacts of the fashion industry.

Illustration on bright green background with figures on cards representing vegetable farmers
March 13, 2025
Joseph Priestley Society

Functional Food and Drink: What’s for Lunch in the Global Cafeteria?

This virtual panel will discuss what functional food means in the U.S. and other countries and how chemistry helps deliver protein, carbohydrates, fat, and flavor.

    Republish

    Copy the above HTML to republish this content. We have formatted the material to follow our guidelines, which include our credit requirements. Please review our full list of guidelines for more information. By republishing this content, you agree to our republication requirements.