May 2006 Meeting
Come join us at the Annual Education Awards Banquet and the three hundred and sixty-fourth meeting of the Susquehanna Valley Section on Wednesday, May 10, 2006. The meeting will begin at 5:00 p.m. in the Kehr Union Ballroom on the Bloomsburg University campus. The speaker will be Ronald C. Blatchley who will deliver a talk entitled "Putting on Airs: Joseph Priestley's Chemistry".Dinner: Dinner will a buffet-style with a selection of entrees (including a vegetarian option), side dishes, salad and dessert. The cost will be ~$20. Please RSVP Sharlene Pollock by email (spollock@bloomu.edu ) or phone (570) 389-5159 by 4:00 p.m. on Monday, May 8, 2006.
Directions: see below
Putting on Airs: Joseph Priestley's Chemistry
Joseph Priestley was an 18th Century theologian who also dabbled in political philosophy and in the sciences: optics, electricity, and especially chemistry where he exhibited a special knack for the design and execution of intricate experiments. He was born in England in 1733 and counted many luminaries of the time among his friends and associates. He regularly interacted with such people as Josiah Wedgwood, Erasmus Darwin, James Watt, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson and John Adams.
The focus of his chemical experiments was pneumatic chemistry - the chemistry of air. In the early eighteenth century, the word "air" was used to describe all gases and it was thought that different properties of air samples were the result of something having been added or removed from atmospheric air. When Priestley first turned his attention to the study of chemistry, only two gases other than atmospheric air were known: carbon dioxide and hydrogen. Priestley discovered at least eight new gases, the most famous being oxygen - or "dephlogisticated air" as he called it.
In 1794, political and religious persecution led Priestley to leave England and move his family to Northumberland. He continued his chemical experiments here, though with less vigor than in his youth. His most significant Northumberland discovery was carbon monoxide.
Ronald C. Blatchley graduated from Lycoming College with a B. A. in chemistry and received his Master of Arts in Teaching from the University of Pittsburgh. He has also taken several graduate level courses in physics and chemistry at Bucknell University. He spent 31 years teaching college prep chemistry and AP chemistry at Mifflinburg Area High School and one year at Juniata College where he was the first traveling teacher with the Science in Motion project. In 1988 he was awarded the Susquehanna Valley Section's first Outstanding Chemistry Teacher Award. He officially retired in 1999 but has since taught several courses in high schools and colleges and is known for performing a chemical magic show wherever he can find an audience.
Mr. Blatchley has a strong interest in the history of chemistry and developed an early relationship with the Joseph Priestley House Museum in Northumberland. For Priestley's 250th birthday in 1983, he collaborated with Lester Kieft to work out a set of chemistry demonstrations which would illustrate the chemical knowledge of Priestley's day but were also relevant, visually appealing, and safe to perform in front of a museum audience. For more than 20 years, he has been wearing an authentic period costume and performing the demonstrations at the Priestley House several times yearly. He has also taken the Priestley Show on the road many times to schools, colleges, conventions, conferences, meetings, etc. He has appeared as Joseph Priestley in eight states and taken the show to Canada and three times to Priestley's native England.
Directions:
East of Bloomsburg: Use I-80 west to Exit 236A south.
West of Bloomsburg: Use I-80 east to Exit 236 south.
South of Bloomsburg:
From Central Pennsylvania, take Routes 11 and 15 north to the Town of Bloomsburg. Heading north on Main Street, you'll see Carver Hall directly ahead, and you'll arrive on the western end of the campus
From southeast Pennsylvania, take Northeast Extension of the Pennsylvania Turnpike (I-476) to I-80 west (Pocono Exit) to Exit 236A south.
North of Bloomsburg:
From the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre area, take I-81 south to I-80 west to Exit 236A south.
From the Williamsport area, take I-180 south to I-80 east to Exit 236.
From Exit 236 on I-80, take Route 487 south and follow signs to campus, approximately one mile. You'll arrive on the eastern end of campus. The first sign on the left will be at Buckingham Maintenance Center; the second sign on the left will lead up a steep entry and onto campus facing Centennial Hall.
Parking
Attendees can park anywhere on campus after 5:00 p.m., except in the metered parking on Second St. (meters are active until 2 a.m.). It is suggested that attendees may find it convenient to park in the parking garage on the corner of Penn St. and Second St.
If you park in the parking garage you will be looking at Carver Hall (large gold dome). Kehr Union is situated behind Carver and the Scranton Commons.
Links to Maps etc.
View a campus map and get more travel information.
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