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Science Friction

by Rudy Baum,
October 1, 2007 | A version of this story appeared in Volume 85, Issue 40

This week's issue of C&EN introduces a new twist to a venerable feature: "Science Friction with Bob Wolke" debuts as a regular feature in Newscripts. Science Friction will appear every other week, and it will continue Newscripts' long tradition of looking at chemistry and science with a wry and sometimes an irreverent eye.

Wolke is familiar to many who live in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area as the columnist responsible for Food 101 every other week in the Washington Post food section. Food 101 appeared in the Post from 1998 until earlier this year. The often humorous column looked at the science behind various aspects of cooking phenomena.

Wolke is also the author of several books on the science of everyday life including "What Einstein Didn't Know: Scientific Answers to Everyday Questions," "What Einstein Told His Barber: More Scientific Answers to Everyday Questions," and "What Einstein Told His Cook: Kitchen Science Explained." His work has earned him a number of awards, including the James Beard Foundation Journalism Award, the Association of Food Journalists Award, and the ACS Grady-Stack Award for Interpreting Chemistry for the Public.

Before he was an acclaimed writer, Wolke was a full-time chemist. He has a B.S. in chemistry from the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn (now Polytechnic University) and a Ph.D. in nuclear chemistry from Cornell University. Wolke was a chemistry professor at the University of Pittsburgh for 30 years. He established the Wherrett Laboratory of Nuclear Chemistry at the University of Pittsburgh, and in 1978 he was tapped to set up the university's Office of Faculty Development, aimed at improving the quality of teaching at the university.

After retiring Food 101 earlier this year, Wolke contacted C&EN about contributing to Newscripts. A longtime member of ACS, Wolke was familiar with the column, especially as it had been written for 36 years by Ken Reese, and he thought his own take on science topics would fit in well.

Wolke and I met over lunch at the ACS meeting in Boston. He was full of ideas for the column, and he even had a name to pitch, Science Friction with Bob Wolke. His ideas for columns ranged from the foibles of academic chemistry to debunking goofy popular scientific misconceptions to food chemistry. We struck the deal at the conclusion of the lunch.

Newscripts has a more-than-60-year history in C&EN. The column debuted without a byline on July 10, 1943. As noted by Reese in an extended essay on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of Newscripts (C&EN, July 12, 1993, page 30), C&EN had acquired its current name only 18 months earlier and was still published only twice monthly. The column was called "NEWS-Scripts." It was, Reese wrote, "on the back page and has stuck there like glue ever since."

In that essay, Reese captured the essence of Newscripts. "Newscripts traditionally has covered a broad range of topics. The editorial policy, if any, favors the chemical over the nonchemical, the scientific over the nonscientific, the grotesque over the normal." The column has always enjoyed a broad readership and has encouraged readers to contribute items of interest and comment on topics raised in it.

Since Reese's retirement in September 2004, Newscripts has been ably written by a tag team of C&EN staff members, each taking on four consecutive weeks of columns. Contributors have ranged from quite senior staff members such as Assistant Managing Editor David Hanson, Senior Correspondent Marc Reisch, and Senior Editor Steve Ritter, to some of our highly talented junior staff members such as Associate Editor Bethany Halford, and Assistant Editors Kimberly Dunham and Faith Hayden. This "Newscripts gang" has brought a delightful mix of topics to C&EN's back page. They will continue to write columns alternating with Science Friction.

Newscripts is C&EN's way of acknowledging that a chuckle every now and then is good for everyone. I'm confident that Science Friction will help Newscripts to continue providing those chuckles.

Thanks for reading.

Views expressed on this page are those of the author and not necessarily those of ACS.

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