History

How Dreams and Frog Hearts Led to the Discovery of Neurotransmitters

Joe Schwarcz PhD — Thu, 26 Feb 2026 23:44:10 +0000

This article was first published in The Montreal Gazette.

The banging on the door at 3 in the morning of March 12, 1938, by Gestapo agents was fierce. They were rousing Otto Loewi out of bed to drag him off to jail. His crime? Loewi was Jewish. It didn’t matter that two years earlier he had been awarded the Nobel Prize for a landmark experiment that was destined to change the course of medicine.

Interesting Chemistry Hides in Cookware

Joe Schwarcz PhD — Thu, 19 Feb 2026 13:57:51 +0000

Like most chemists, I like to cook. After all, what is cooking but the appropriate mixing of chemicals? In the lab we use flasks and beakers, but how do we equip our kitchen? Tiffany's in New York offers a silver frying pan for thousands of dollars, specialty stores sell gleaming copper pots for a couple of hundred, while a thin aluminum pot can be had most anywhere for a few dollars. What's the difference?

America's Healthier Past is no More Than a Myth

Joe Schwarcz PhD — Fri, 13 Feb 2026 16:22:17 +0000

This article was first published in The Montreal Gazette.

“Make America healthy again” sounds like a great slogan. It is loaded with nostalgia and … haziness. What is that “again” all about? When were those halcyon days when Americans were healthier than now?

Fighting With Chocolate

Joe Schwarcz PhD — Fri, 13 Feb 2026 00:50:57 +0000

“An army marches on its stomach,” Napoleon supposedly maintained, alluding to the critical importance of supplying food to soldiers. At the time the main military fare was salted meat and dry bread that may have satisfied soldiers’ hunger but officers, Napoleon thought, had to have better sustenance because they had to use their brain to make decisions. They needed a food that would provide good nourishment and would not spoil on long marches. Chocolate filled the bill!

The Placebo Myth Picked the Wrong War

Jonathan Jarry M.Sc. — Thu, 05 Feb 2026 13:43:10 +0000

There’s a medical myth with which a friend of mine and I have become obsessed: this idea that scientific research into the “placebo effect” began in earnest during World War II. As I’ve written before, the classic story is that Dr. Henry Beecher, a Harvard graduate transported to a military base hospital during the darkest days of the 20th century, ran out of morphine while treating soldiers in pain.

Ripples of Discovery Created a New Wave of Weight-loss Medications

Joe Schwarcz PhD — Fri, 30 Jan 2026 11:00:00 +0000

This article was first published in The Montreal Gazette.

When it comes to pharmacology, the big story these days is the development of the “glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) mimics,” the first truly effective medications to treat obesity. It’s a fascinating story to be sure, but get set for a bumpy ride. We are not playing Tiddlywinks here.

The Costco Hot Dog….Decisions….Decisions

Joe Schwarcz PhD — Thu, 29 Jan 2026 21:36:43 +0000

So, there I was at Costco looking at their special of a quarter pound hot dog and soft drink for $1.50. A good deal financially to be sure. These days I have hot dogs rarely, but I still have fond memories of the toasted hot dogs at the Forum and the steamies at the Montreal Pool Room. To try or not to try the Costco dog, that was the question. I was aware of course about the high salt and fat content, but I also knew that I didn’t have to worry about being struck down by botulism. That’s because the meat is cured with sodium nitrite. And therein lies a story.

Bacteria are Fearsome, Especially When Weaponized

Joe Schwarcz PhD — Fri, 23 Jan 2026 17:22:07 +0000

This article was first published in The Montreal Gazette.

They used to call it “wool sorter’s disease” or “hide-porter’s disease” because the affliction struck workers who spun wool or carried animal skins. They would sometimes develop circular lesions on their skin with a coal black centre, hence the name of the disease “anthrax” from the Greek word for coal. In rare instances drummers developed anthrax as they beat animal-skin drums.

A Beginners Guide to Time Travel: Explaining the Time Zones

Eva Kellner B.A.Sc. — Fri, 16 Jan 2026 11:00:00 +0000

In a way, time travel does exist. Just hop on a plane from Montreal to Vancouver, and you jump back three hours. Or better yet, fly in the other direction to Auckland, and find yourself 18 hours in the future. Of course, we owe these time differences to the Earth’s rotation, but also to the human-decided lines that identify various time zones. (This subject is, in fact, very personal to me because I am currently writing this at 5:30 in the morning due to the infamous jetlag most of us have experienced at some time.)

If You Play With Fire, You Can Get Burned

Joe Schwarcz PhD — Thu, 15 Jan 2026 03:20:30 +0000

Fountain candles are small tubes filled with chemicals that when ignited spew out a plume of glowing sparks into the air. They sure capture attention! The effect can last a few seconds (cake fountain candles), up to a minute (bottle fountain sparklers) or several minutes (special effects for stage shows and concerts). These devices all consist of some combustible materials packed into a cardboard tube with the length of the visual effect being determined by the amount and specific composition of the chemicals packed into the tube.

A Cultural History of Yogurt

Joe Schwarcz PhD — Fri, 09 Jan 2026 11:00:00 +0000

This article was first published in The Montreal Gazette.

There are some stories so good to tell that one hesitates to check their accuracy. Like the one about King Francis I of France (1494-1547) being cured of his digestive problems by eating yogurt.

Building the Modern Skyscraper: Architectural Lessons from Wedding Cakes

Eva Kellner B.A.Sc. — Fri, 02 Jan 2026 11:00:00 +0000

The Home Insurance Building, the world’s first skyscraper, and the Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building, both owe their origins in the city of Chicago.

Of Mistletoe, Frankincense and Myrrh

Joe Schwarcz PhD — Wed, 24 Dec 2025 06:46:53 +0000

Mistletoe has had a certain mystique about it since ancient times, probably on account of the curious way it grows. The plant is a “hemiparasite,” meaning that it can either grow in soil, or, more commonly, it can spring from the branch of a tree. Ladies probably stood under the branch in awe, admiring the pretty flowers, giving gentlemen an opportunity to take a little liberty with the fair sex.

Traffic Has Increased at My Office. It's Because of the Ducks

Joe Schwarcz PhD — Fri, 05 Dec 2025 19:15:56 +0000

This article was first published in The Montreal Gazette.

Milk History Does a Body Good

Joe Schwarcz PhD — Fri, 28 Nov 2025 21:15:23 +0000

This article was first published in The Montreal Gazette.

The history of humans drinking cow’s milk is fascinating and not devoid of controversy.