Ambix最新文献

This paper explores the intricate relationship between naturalness and bioplastics by examining celluloid, the first commercially successful (bio)plastic. By analysing the trajectory of celluloid, we can gain valuable insights into bioplastic design. Invented in 1868, celluloid transformed the consumer landscape by providing cost-effective alternatives to ivory. John Wesley Hyatt, the inventor of celluloid, developed innovative design and marketing strategies to navigate the public's perception of naturalness. In the context of billiard balls, celluloid's marketing strategy did not focus on its similarity to ivory but on its superior functionality. However, celluloid capitalised on its ability to mimic ivory's aesthetic qualities for everyday items like combs and fans. This paper argues that bioplastics may benefit from embracing their artificial qualities while gradually establishing the notion of their inherent naturalness over time.

The beauty line, Quenty-Cosmetic, exemplifies the ambivalent construction of naturalness surrounding an early cosmeceutical product in 1970s West Germany. This line of skincare products, featuring biologically active ingredients, was marketed as a preventative solution for skin ageing, revealing tensions between societal perceptions of ageing and the ideal of the "natural look" in the context of a polluted environment. Quenty's presence in pharmacies, drugstores, and health food stores illustrates its role in blurring the lines between cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, and natural products, reflecting Ilana Löwy's "boundary concepts." Drawing on the archival resources on Quenty-Cosmetic of Bayer Archives Leverkusen, this article examines how nature is simultaneously portrayed as both a hero and an adversary in the quest for the "natural look," revealing the complexities inherent in the cosmetic industry's construction of naturalness.

When the birth control pill was introduced at the beginning of the 1960s, it was primarily used to regulate women's menstrual cycles. Medical historians have argued that such a naturalised menstrual cycle did not exist until hormonal products were used to regulate it. Menstrual irregularities had been the go-to indication for hormonal products, long before hormones were specifically produced for contraceptive purposes. This paper traces the concurrent development of the notion of a "natural cycle" and respective marketing strategies to promote Sequilar, the first sequential birth control pill by Schering AG in 1974. Drawing upon archival resources in the Schering AG Archive, Berlin, the paper examines the notion of producing a "natural cycle." The paper utilises internal documents, letters to doctors, brochures, and prescription guidelines. It argues that the intention of producing a "natural cycle" through hormones led to a naturalisation of menstrual cyclicity and rhythm, while also normalising side effects as part of menstruation.

This paper explores the philosophical and practical implications of the natural versus synthetic distinction in chemistry. I consider several interpretations of the term natural as pertaining to substances, and conclude that at its core, naturalness is best understood as a statement about material origin. The analysis reveals that calling a chemical substance natural risks committing a category mistake. The descriptor can only be coherently applied to samples of a chemical substance, not to a chemical substance as a set. Even in the case of samples, the utility of the term is limited. Care must be taken to avoid unwarranted implications.

The development of defect-free flint glass for use in telescopes and navigational instruments was a key technological challenge facing European chemists, natural philosophers, and artisans that emerged in the 1750s. In 1805, Pierre-Louis Guinand, a Swiss artisan, invented a fireclay stirrer used to stir molten flint glass to create a homogenous mixture relatively free of defects. In this paper, I show it was not Guinand, but French chemist Antoine Baumé, who first came up with the idea of using a fireclay stirrer. More important, both Guinand and another early optical glass researcher, Josiah Wedgwood, knew of and were influenced by Baumé's work. Baumé's optical glass contributions have been forgotten over the years for several reasons. First, he never promoted his idea of a fireclay stirrer due to the limited support and likelihood of failure for such an artisanal-focused project within the Académie, which stressed theory over practice with regards to glassmaking. Second, glassmakers were hesitant to reveal their trade secrets and sources. And third, until fairly recently, Baumé's unrelenting support of the phlogiston theory led to his relegation as a minor figure in the history of chemistry, and his optical glass ideas fell off the radar of subsequent historians.

The composition and way of production of Michael Maier's medicament Coelidonia, mentioned in his book De Medicina Regia et verè Heroica, Coelidonia, were inferred from indications in Maier's book Viatorium, hoc est, de montibus planetarum septem eu Metallorum. The substance was synthesized by the author in a modern laboratory. It is a lead oxychloride of brilliant yellow colour with a composition of approximately Pb₇O₆Cl₂. The same substance was produced from the 1780s to at least 1825 as a pigment under the names of Patent Yellow, Turner's Yellow and Casseler Mineral-Gelb (Cassel Mineral Yellow).

Motivated by her interest in fabric arts, late-eighteenth-century British chemist Elizabeth Fulhame experimentally investigated whether cloths of gold, silver, and other metals could be made by chemical rather than mechanical processes. In contrast to other women studying science at this time, she not only published an original monograph under her own name that challenged both the phlogistic and antiphlogistic views of combustion but also proposed an alternative explanation for oxidation and reduction. Although her contemporaries widely cited her innovative research, her history is not well known, yet a careful analysis of her work provides further insights into the reception of the antiphlogistic theory and the challenges and limitations experienced by women in chemistry during this period.