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The History of Chemistry

173: Midnight Blue

Jun 12, 2025 · 21 min · Episode 173 · 15.7 MB
0:00-21:49

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We start with a 1927 patent awarded to George Washington Carver, an agricultural chemist, for a locally-sourced Prussian blue. We learn a bit about Carver's life, education, and hobby of painting which may have led to the patent. We examine the patent in some detail, and then hear how it's been revived by a modern artist. Then we discuss other blue pigments throughout history, ending with the newest blue, an accidental discovery in a laboratory in 2009.

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