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

Join our museum’s Gallery Guides for a “drop-in” tour highlighting the central role of women in shaping chemistry and the material sciences throughout history.

Our Women in Chemistry Tour profiles women chemists from antiquity to the present, sharing stories of innovation, resistance, and change.

On this tour, you can expect to:

  • learn about the legendary founding women of alchemy
  • explore the connections between domesticity and distillation
  • see how wartime changed the laboratory

You’ll also meet pioneering chemists and chemistry educators, from 17th-century French alchemist Marie Meurdrac to Marie Maynard Daly, the first Black woman in America to receive a PhD in chemistry, and Rosalind Franklin, whose work in X-ray crystallography led to the discovery of DNA’s structure. 


Drop-in tours are free and no reservations are necessary.

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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.

Book cover image for "Slouch: Posture Panic in Modern America"
March 19, 2025
Programs, Lectures & Talks

Slouch: Posture Panic in Modern America

Professor and author Beth Linker reveals the surprising origins of our concerns over poor posture.

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