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Education
Mystery Chemist Found, Chemical Plating, More Fun with License Plates
October 24, 2005
| A version of this story appeared in
Volume 83, Issue 43
Mystery chemist found
Chemists have one more reason to love Scotland: The country's currency features one of our own. Now the identity of this lab-coat-clad everychemist has been revealed.
In 1995, the Bank of Scotland issued a series of bank notes to commemorate its 300th anniversary. To illustrate the bank's involvement in education and research in Scotland, the back of the 20 note featured a woman working with a high-pressure liquid chromatograph.
The chemist remained anonymous until earlier this month when the Royal Society of Chemistry launched a search for her. RSC spokesman Brian Emsley says the society first became interested in the mystery woman when a visitor to RSC's booth at the ACS national meeting in Washington, D.C., asked if the woman on the note was indeed a chemical scientist. The Scottish press picked up the story of the search, and within a few days, Janet Mullen, a chemist and mother of three currently working for Scottish Water, stepped forward.
Mullen tells Newscripts that the picture on the 20 note was taken in 1988 as a promotional snapshot for the now-defunct Scottish College of Textiles, where she was working. When the Bank of Scotland put out a call for education and research images, the college submitted the photo, unbeknownst to Mullen. The currency had been circulating for months before the college notified her. Mullen confesses that she had even carried a few of the notes in her purse without recognizing herself.
As the notes have been in circulation for a decade, Mullen was surprised at the recent flurry of interest. She has been particularly tickled to be called a "mystery woman" by the Scottish press. Her identity unveiled, Mullen will be a guest of honor next month at RSC's annual Science & the Parliament event in Edinburgh.
Chemical plating
A few months ago, the newscripts gang wrote about a Seattle motorist whose license plate bore the molecular formula for amphetamine (C&EN, June 13, page 56). We wondered if you, our dear readers, had ever encountered chemistry-related vanity plates in your travels. Many of you wrote in to let us know that yes, you had seen such chemical plates-frequently on your own cars. Although we only have enough space here to share just a few of the gems we received, you can find the entire treasure trove, along with a few photos, at C&EN Online.
"About 15 years ago, I worked with a guy in California whose plate on his little sports car read CYACU; i.e., 'See ya, copper!'" writes Greg Yeutter, Overland Park, Kan. "I was married to a woman at the time whom I tried to convince to get the plate QT31416; i.e., 'Cutie Pie,' but she didn't go for it. Figured no one would get it."
"My old boss at an industrial hygiene lab had the vanity plate PB2AU," writes Jennifer G. Riser of Marietta, Ga. "We did so much lead testing for the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development projects, that was where most of our money was made."
Radiochemist James R. Noyce of Springfield, Ill., has RADKEM 1 on his license plates. He notes, "The numeral one means that no one else in Illinois had thought of RADKEM before I did."
Robert E. Cunningham of Akron, Ohio, tells us, "Several years ago, while driving northbound on Interstate 79 in the Pittsburgh area, I saw a Pennsylvania vanity license plate HI YO AG."
Natalia Melcer, an ACS science policy fellow in Washington, D.C., spotted the license plate PANDNH4, or "Pandemonium," on the streets of Ann Arbor, Mich.
On their daily commute, Sandra and Robert Garber of Knoxville have sighted FE2O3, FEMAN, and AUDGR on vanity plates. "We presume that the driver of the car of the first tag is named Rust or Rusty, the second may be telling the world that they lift weights, and the final tag is looking for the fortune somewhere."
"A chemistry teacher at my high school (Jim Davis, Green Mountain High School in Lakewood, Colo., late 1980s) had the license plate BARIUM," writes Elizabeth Knight of Lafayette, Colo., "which was particularly appropriate considering he drove a hearse."
More fun with license plates
- "In the past I had on my wife's minivan C6H12O6 because of calling her 'sweetie.' I presently have the following on two cars: ZNO and 6.022E23. I market and sell zinc oxide for my present employer. Twenty years ago, in a previous life, I was a math and science high school teacher; hence the largest number you will ever find on a license plate, Avogadro's number."—Vincent Martin, Gastonia, N.C.
- "Joe Clark, who was a special assistant to former ACS executive director John Crum, had the Maryland license plate BENZENE. Joe had a long career in chemistry. Before coming to ACS, he worked under Mary Good at the Department of Commerce."—Rudy M. Baum, Washington, D.C.
- "The late, great chromatographer Csaba Horvath had a Connecticut plate with the letters HPLC."—;Dave Locke, Flushing, N.Y.
- "I have had the plate ENZYME in Florida for more than 30 years, and I recently learned that Albert S. Mildvan [biological chemistry professor at Johns Hopkins University] has the corresponding plate for Maryland. My colleague here at the University of Miami, [biochemistry professor] Fazal Ahmad, has had BIOTIN for a similar period of time."—Fred Woessner, Miami
- "I remember, about six or so years ago in Michigan, seeing a license plate PV[space]NRT. The space was filled up with two little horizontal white stripes for the = sign."—David Bolliet, Kalamazoo, Mich.
- "My high school science teacher, Mr. Beard, was very proud of his California plates that read PVNRT2. The reason for the 2 was that PVNRT was already taken, I believe by the local ACS section head."—Karin Stein, Mountain View, Calif.
- "Your article reminds me of the old vanity license plate I used to have which read AU H2O. The plate was a gift from a friend in Florida in 1964 when the late Sen. Barry Goldwater was seeking the nomination. I thought that was a clever plate, but Goldwater was not successful, as all of you know."—Kohtaro Matsuo, Osaka, Japan
- "Reading your story 'Speedy in Seattle' reminded me of my Ph.D. adviser's car. While at the University of Kansas, you may spot a little, red, sporty Datsun with the plate HNUPROF. Since professor Richard Givens specializes in organic photochemistry, I'd say the plate describes him fairly well!"—Peter Conrad, Fremont, Calif.
- "Regarding chemistry-related vanity license plates, my friend Gaetano Montelione (professor at Rutgers, State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick) drives a Volvo with the license plate NMR GUY. He uses NMR to determine protein structures and goes by the name Guy rather than Gaetano."—Richard D. Ludescher, New Brunswick, N.J.
- "In 1973, I was able to get the California plate C3 H8 for my new GMC Jimmy that I had converted to run on propane, and I used the propane system (and plates) as a teaching tool for my high school chemistry classes for the next 12 years. In the late 1980s, I saw a car here in San Jose (Silicon Valley) with SIO2 plates, with the added feature that it was a Toyota Celica (Silica!)"—Bill Lakatos, San Jose, Calif.
- "A chemistry professor at the university I attend also drove a vehicle with vanity plates. The license plate on his van spelled out FE2O3, very apt because of the condition his vehicle was in! Eventually he replaced the can with another car because the corrosion got so bad (Illinois winters), but he still uses the molecular formula for rust on his plates."—Racheal Brimberry, Peoria, Ill.
- "While teaching at Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis, I had a license plate for over 20 years saying CHEM 101. Often students would see me in town and honk. While I often did not recognize the student (200–300 in my course), I simply honked back and waved, always assuming that it was a friendly honk."—Erwin Boschmann, Indianapolis
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- "Regarding my own account of a chemistry-related license plate, I have this to share. Circa 1993 in the Chicago suburbs (on I-355 at I-90 interchange, Schaumburg, Ill.), I saw a car with an Illinois plate that read KCN TO 1 (or something to that effect). I immediately thought of potassium cyanide and the disturbing allusion that the plate was a veiled confession of giving KCN to an unsuspecting person. At the time I dismissed my thoughts as silly, partly because I did not want to overreact, but I still wonder if the owner of that car was less than benevolent."—Barry Ferm, Minooka, Ill.
- "I work at a state crime lab and I have had a vanity license plate for a while now: IMN24N6. It's interesting to look at people in the rearview mirror at a stoplight trying to figure it out. Give it a try. It relates to my line of work (lots of chemistry). I also teach an introductory class at the local university on this subject."—Patrick Long, Savannah, Ga. [Spoiler alert! The Newscripts gang was stumped on this one and asked Long to decode his plate for us. We slapped our foreheads when he told us: I'm into forensics.]
- "During my employment at the Environmental Protection Agency's National Risk Management Research Laboratory in Cincinnati, ammonium perchlorate became a large focus of my work. That work led to 15 papers, multiple presentations, and editing a book. When I became the de facto expert, I opted for the personalized license plate: NH4CLO4. Although I still review perchlorate manuscripts, these days my car sports a more conventional plate."—Edward T. Urbansky, Pensacola, Fla.
- "A few years ago, my morning bike commute took me past a maroon car bearing the plates C6H6PHD. I always smiled as I saw it, and wondered how many people could decipher it. One morning, the owner was dashing from her porch to the car when I came by and was able to approach her. She did indeed confirm that she had recently finished her Ph.D. in organic chemistry at Stanford."—Robert H. Schwaar, Palo Alto, Calif.
- "Per your request regarding vanity plates that are chemistry related, I wish to submit my own Ohio plates, which read NI CR. My business, Century Plating Inc., is metal finishing—decorative nickel chromium electroplating. Some people get it!"—Phillip G. Stutzman, Cleveland
- "My vanity plate on my trusty Buick Reatta sports car reads HAZWAST, which derives from my longtime interfacing with the U.S. EPA and the chemical industry on development interpretation of hazardous waste regulations under the unaptly named Resource Conservation & Recovery Act."—Stacy L. Daniels, Midland, Mich.
- "I am attaching a picture of my three auto license plates, which represent my area of food material science research. The A SUB W plate represents the activity of water (Aw), an area of research I got introduced to at MIT working on my Ph.D. under Marcus Karel in 1962. … Water activity is a very useful tool to explain both chemical reaction and microbial growth in dry and semimoist foods, drugs, and biologics. The plate is on my Dodge Stratus. Interestingly, when I come out of a sub shop, every now and then someone comes up to complain or to give me kudos on the food, thinking I am the owner or the manager. I have continued that research area and expanded it to include the influence of water (and water activity) and temperature on the rates of chemical reactions that deteriorate foods, and thus the second plate, KINETIC. It used to be the plate on my Dodge Stealth, but a bad back and knees led me to replace that with an Accura MDX. It still is pretty fast, so it fits the plates. The third plate is NTRO P on my wife's Lexus. … Lastly, I just finished restoring a 1968 Porsche 912 and am toying with either NTAL P, to complement the Lexus, or T SUB G, which is the glass-transition temperature, a very valuable use of a materials science tool from polymer technology."—Ted Labuza, St. Paul, Minn.
- " 'Speedy in Seattle,' about chemically themed license plates, brings to mind a bumper sticker seen three decades ago on a Michigan-registered car in Maryland. The sticker—identified with, if I remember correctly, the department of biochemistry at the University of Michigan—read, 'I ride a Krebs cycle.' "—Stephen Tauber, Lexington, Mass.
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- Although not chemical, PHYSICS was spotted on a plate by Ralph E. Spelbring of Elkhart, Ind., as he was touring the Hoosier state. Spelbring is often on the lookout for chemistry during his travels. A few weeks later, he sent the Newscripts gang a postcard from Sulphur, Ky.
This week's column was written by Bethany Halford. Please send comments and suggestions to newscripts@acs.org.
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