Dr. Stefanie Horovitz, The Isotope Lady: A Presentation by Dr. Stephen Cohen

Sunday, April 12 @ 3:00 pm

This program is open to the public. Admission is included with Society Hill Synagogue membership and/or membership in the Royal Society of Chemistry. General admission costs $18, and advance registration is required.

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Join us for a fascinating evening of science, history, and Jewish memory. Co-sponsored with the Royal Society of Chemistry, Society Hill Synagogue member Dr. Stephen Cohen will bring to life the remarkable story of Dr. Stefanie Horovitz — the brilliant Viennese Jewish chemist whose groundbreaking experiment provided the first proof of isotopes. Horovitz’s discovery reshaped modern chemistry, yet her name has all but disappeared from the scientific record. Why? This compelling lecture will explore Horovitz’s pioneering work, her intellectual circle, and the dramatically different paths taken by her colleagues as Europe descended into World War II and the Holocaust. It is a story of discovery, erasure, resilience, and the moral responsibility of remembering.

About the Presenter: Stephen Cohen has been involved with the history of chemistry for three decades. He received his Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry at Rice University in Houston, Texas. His research into chemical history includes chemical literature in the Yiddish language. He has written and published books and academic papers, including O Mg! How Chemistry Came to Be (World Scientific Press, 2022), a graphic novel on the history of chemistry; and America’s Scientific Treasures, 2nd edition (Oxford University Press, 2020), a travel guide to science and technology sites around the USA. He contributed an entry in the Shalvi-Hyman Encyclopedia of Jewish Women on Maria the Jewess. Cohen is a Board member of the Royal Society of Chemistry-US Section, a member of the Philadelphia Section of the American Chemical Society, and he hosted the popular podcast, “The History of Chemistry,” from 2022-2025. He is the recipient of the 2026 James T. Grady-James H. Stack Award for Interpreting Chemistry for the Public from the American Chemical Society. Cohen is also the Treasurer of the Midwest Jewish Studies Association, with publications on the history of Jewish calligraphy, history of Jewish choral music, and literary criticism of a 1980 Yiddish science-fiction novella.