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 the uncredited women who labor in the chemical and technological industries.


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

More events

January 22, 2025
Free

Virtual Talk: Women in Chemistry

Join us on Zoom for a virtual talk highlighting the central role of women in shaping chemistry and the material sciences throughout history.

Black ink illustration of one engineer advising another
February 5, 2025
Free

Transitioning to a Sustainable Chemical Industry: Lessons from History

At the T. T. Chao Symposium on Innovation experts in the history of the chemical industry will convene to identify a path to netzero, biodiversity protection, and the alleviation of chemical pollution.

February 10, 2025
Science on Tap

Animals in Historic Philadelphia: Food, Labor, and Industry

Learn about the surprising role of animals in shaping urban life in the 19th and early 20th centuries.

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