Tag Archives: Oesper Collections

New online collection features caricatures of notable scientists

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When William B. Jensen (1948-2024), the Ralph E. Oesper Professor of the History of Chemistry at the University of Cincinnati from 1986-2024, was a student at the University of Madison-Wisconsin taking the History of Chemistry class, he sketched caricatures of the chemists he was learning about. While Aaron Ihde lectured, Jensen would select a chemist and caricature them based on the portraits found in Ihde’s textbook, “The Development of Modern Chemistry” (1964).

Line drawing caricature of Friedrich Wilhelm Ostwald balancing on a delta G-shaped teeter-totter while the sun rises above the mountaintops behind.
Friedrich Wilhelm Ostwald, Baltic German chemist and philosopher. Caricature by Dr. William Jensen, Courtesy Oesper Collections in the History of Chemistry, University of Cincinnati Libraries.

Now available online via JSTOR, the UC Libraries online collection contains the 33 original, hand-drawn caricatures of notable chemists and physicists Jensen penned between 1970 and 1974. They are held by the Oesper Collections in the History of Chemistry. The collection was scanned and digitized by the UC Libraries Digital Initiatives Team.

Line drawing caricature of Alfred Werner standing in the middle of a giant three-dimensional chemical structure.
Swiss chemist Alfred Werner. Caricature by Dr. William Jensen, Courtesy Oesper Collections in the History of Chemistry, University of Cincinnati Libraries.

Throughout the years, Jensen would submit the caricatures to appear in scientific journals and publications, and reported that there was interest in reproducing them on t-shirts, coffee mugs and even an album cover. Jensen eventually published the caricatures in a 2010 booklet, “Chymists: That strange class of of mortals: Caricatures of famous chemists with a few physicists and biologists,” which was recently published digitally.

Upon Jensen’s death in 2024, the collection was acquired by the Oesper Collection in April 2025.

Line drawing caricature of Albert Einstein wearing a sweater that says "E=mc(2)" on the front
Albert Einstein. Caricature by Dr. William Jensen, Courtesy Oesper Collections in the History of Chemistry, University of Cincinnati Libraries.

The Oesper Collections in the History of Chemistry is a nationally recognized collection of scientific artifacts, books, journals, photos and prints related to the history of chemistry. They are a joint venture of the University of Cincinnati Libraries and the UC Department of Chemistry. They were founded in 1986 by William B. Jensen.

Julia Carr-Trebelhorn joins UC Libraries as Service Coordinator for Oesper Collections

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We are excited to share that Julia Carr-Trebelhorn has joined UC Libraries as the Service Coordinator for the Oesper Collections in the History of Chemistry. Julia earned a PhD in the History of Science, Medicine and Technology in 2023 from the University of Oxford. In addition, she holds a BA (English Literature) and MA (Art History) from the University of Kentucky, where she also completed courses in Materials Science, Ceramic Engineering and Chemistry.

Julia Carr-Trebelhorn

Julia brings a wealth of experience in the history of science, special collections and museums that will benefit both the Oesper Collections and UC Libraries more broadly, including experiences in operations and collections management.  As the Service Coordinator, her duties include: facilitating public operating hours for the Oesper Collections, coordinating tour requests, assisting with compiling statistics and stories on engagement with the collections, collaborating on displays and digital projects and much more. In the Science and Engineering Libraries unit, Julia will also have responsibilities in supporting the CEAS Library collections and operations.

Welcome, Julia!

The Chemical Atlas – A gem from the Oesper Collections

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Edward Livingston Youmans’ The Chemical Atlas was recently returned to its home in the Oesper Collections in the History of Chemistry library after receiving conservation treatment from UC Libraries’ Preservation Lab. Youmans’ famous book features eye-catching illustrated and hand-colored plates that frequently motivate myself and others to display the item and engage visitors of the Oesper Collections with stunning visual depictions of the unseen world of chemical processes.

Edward Youmans was a renowned science communicator and popularizer in the 19th century United States. In the 1850’s, a reviewer called his Chemical Atlas “without exception, the best popular work in the English language” (Miles, 1964). When he was a young teen, he was afflicted by a disease of the eyes which grew more severe with time, leaving him nearly blind and suffering from frequent eye inflammation between the ages of 13 and 35. During these years, Youmans was unable to read, and learned as much as he could through the second-hand teaching of his sister, Eliza Youmans. His second-hand learning caused him to imagine and visualize chemistry concepts. As he overcame his misconceptions and worked to make his understanding more definite, he wanted to share his scheme for picturing atoms and their combinations. This led to him creating chemical charts which visually depicted atoms of different elements, binary compounds, and more as well as an accompanying book, Classbook of Chemisty. The Classbook of Chemistry was a huge success. “Brief, clear, and devoid of technicalities, it has an astounding and continuous sale; it was revised and sold more than 144,000 copies in its three editions. This was truly a remarkable record and would be envied even in these days of widespread chemical instruction” (Oesper, 1957). Continue reading →