Stereo Chemistry revisited: 'Wicked amazing scientist' James Harris's untold story

Little was publicly known about the first Black scientist to codiscover an element.

Chemists may know James Harris as the first Black scientist to be credited with codiscovering an element. In fact, we referenced this in a previous episode of Stereo Chemistry about making superheavy elements. But beyond this memorable factoid, details about this accomplished nuclear chemist are scarce, and most sources repeat the same superficial information. Kristen Frederick-Frost, curator of modern science at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History, wants to change that. After discovering that the museum's database lacked material on Harris, she scoured archival records and sought out former colleagues, friends, and family members to fill in details of his life and career. In this bonus episode of Stereo Chemistry, host Kerri Jansen and special guest Darryl Boyd join Frederick-Frost to explore Harris's story beyond the discoveries that made him famous. And we even get an unexpected peek into his lab, courtesy of the US National Archives.

Boyd, a polymer chemist, previously researched James Harris while writing a short article for C&EN's "Black Chemists You Should Know About."

Listen to our April 2019 Stereo Chemistry episode "If You Want to Change the Element, You Have to Change the Nucleus."

Read the Ebony magazine profile about James Harris.

Read about James Harris's experiments with element 104.

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