Previous Event
Fall Dinner Meeting
6:30 p.m. Thursday, November 4, 2010
Camarillo Library Community Room
4101 Las Posas Road, Camarillo
ACS Tour Speaker
James F. O’Brien
Professor Emeritus Missouri State University
Speaking on
“Famous Mad Hatters”
The origin of the phrase “Mad as a Hatter” is due to the incidence of odd behavior on the part of workers in the early felt hat industry. Their odd behavior, or “madness”, was the result of mercury poisoning contracted on the job. This presentation will discuss the recent mercury analyses done on the hair of Isaac Newton; the deterioration of the great mind
of Michael Faraday; the bizarre behavior of Boston Corbett, the man who shotJoh n Wilkes Booth, the assassin of Abraham Lincoln; and the possibility that mercury poisoning affected the behavior of other famous people such as King Charles II of England, the author William Makepeace Thackeray, and a number of famous artists, such as Rubens, Renoir, Dufy, and Klee.
“Mad” women in History have been more difficult to locate. One eminent female whose health was affected by chemical
exposure was Clare Boothe Luce. Her health problems while serving as U.S. Ambassador to Italy in the 1950’s will be discussed. Also, mercury analysis of the hair of Russian Tsarina Anastasia, wife of Ivan the Terrible, suggest she may have been poisoned.
Biography for Dr.O’Brien
The cost for the event will be $20 per person, $10 Students.
A Mexican Buffet Dinner will be served.
Return the form with your payment by Friday, October 29, 2010
Directions to Camarillo Library
The Flyer can be downloaded
here.
If you have questions, please email calpacs@chem.ucsb.edu,
or call James Pavlovich at805-893-4252.