CHEMISTRY COLLOQUIUM SERIES OPENS WITH NOVELIST

The first presenter in this fall's Chemistry Colloquium series has an unusual profession for a speaker in that forum: she's a novelist. Camille Minichino, author of the Periodic Table Mysteries, is also a Ph.D. in physics who has conducted research at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Livermore, Calif., and designed control rooms at nuclear power plants, among other things. Writing about science will be her topic at the colloquium, which is open to all. The presentation will take place Thursday, Sept. 8, at 4:15 p.m. in the Berliner Lecture Hall, Park 180.

Currently a member of the faculty at Golden Gate University in San Francisco and the staff of the Livermore Laboratory, Minichino teaches basic physics courses as well as creative-writing courses and an overview of the philosophy of science. She has published seven novels in her Periodic Table Series, which features retired physicist-slueth Gloria Lamerino. She also has a long list of nonfiction publications, both academic and popular.

Minichino was invited to Bryn Mawr by Professor of Chemistry Michelle Francl, who began corresponding with her a few years ago after using one of Minichino's murder mysteries as a post-exam treat for her students.

"In the final exam for P-Chem, I usually include a question about chocolate and put some chocolate in the exam envelope," Francl explains, "but one year I had a student who didn't like chocolate. So I asked a question about The Hydrogen Mystery and included a copy of the book. The students didn't have to read the book in order to answer the question — it was just a little present to reward their hard work. Several of the students told me how much they'd enjoyed the book, and I thought the author might like to hear about it, so I wrote her, and sent all the students periodic-table bookmarks. That's how we met."

During her visit to campus, Minichino will also speak to students in a chemistry lab about technical writing.

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