Periodic Table of Elements
Press coverage:
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Mystery of Matter Wins National Emmy Award!
At the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences News & Documentary Awards ceremony this week in New York, Katha Seidman and Gary Henoch took home a national Emmy Award for their work on The Mystery of Matter: Search for the Elements. Katha was the production designer and Gary the directory of photography for the three-hour 2015 PBS series about the human story behind the Periodic Table. Their victory in the category of Lighting Direction and Scenic Design is a recognition of the series’ beautiful dramatic re-enactments, which chronicle a series of pivotal discoveries by scientists like Antoine Lavoisier, Dmitri Mendeleev and Marie Curie. (Katha and Gary won the same award for “Forgotten Genius,” NOVA’s 2007 biography of African American chemist Percy Julian.) While the Emmy was awarded specifically to Gary and Katha, Gary noted that “this award really belongs to the entire production team, because a successful collaboration is essential for success.” Congratulations to Katha and Gary, and thanks to all the other cast and crew members whose hard work and professionalism made this Emmy Award-winning series possible.
You can’t quite be sure you’re watching PBS when the first scene you catch depicts a couple of 20-somethings huffing laughing gas. But you’re not mistaken, public television viewers. That’s 19th-century chemistry prodigy Humphry Davy who’s giggling uncontrollably. “It makes you so gloriously happy,” says Davy’s pal and noted poet Robert Southey, of nitrous oxide. Then, with an impish grin, Southey adds, “I’m going for more this evening.” You can almost imagine Davy, were he alive today, as an ardent promoter of cannabis chemistry.
All of the elements that go into an ambitious new PBS series are designed to take the mystery out of chemistry and scientists' pursuit of how the natural world works. "The Mystery of Matter: The Search for the Elements" accomplishes this by humanizing the process, telling the fascinating stories of seven visionaries.
"PBS Docudrama Brings Discovery Of The Chemical Elements To Life.
The three-hour series, “The Mystery of Matter,” tells the tales of seven scientists with dramatic reenactments."
"The Mystery of Matter: Search for the Elements is an exciting PBS series about one of the great adventures in the history of science: the long (and continuing) quest to understand what the world is made of—to identify, understand and organize the basic building blocks of matter.
Documentaries about science don't really make for ratings winners. Those that are produced seem to focus on a few popular topics - evolutionary biology, medicine, astronomy. Chemistry seems left out in the cold. PBS hopes to change this ugly situation with The Mystery of Matter: Search for the Elements, a superb three-part documentary about the history of chemistry. It airs in one marathon sitting from 8 to 11 p.m.
Through historical sources, dramatic reenactments, and host Michael Emerson, this three-part series chronicles some of the most important breakthroughs in the study of the building blocks of the universe.
Through historical sources, dramatic reenactments, and host Michael Emerson, this three-part series chronicles some of the most important breakthroughs in the study of the building blocks of the universe.
Through historical sources, dramatic reenactments, and host Michael Emerson, this three-part series chronicles some of the most important breakthroughs in the study of the building blocks of the universe.
Through historical sources, dramatic reenactments, and host Michael Emerson, this three-part series chronicles some of the most important breakthroughs in the study of the building blocks of the universe.
Pennsylvania Trails of History
Sumter (South Carolina) Item (syndicated column also appeared in 40-50 other papers)
Promo Video
The Mystery of Matter: Search for the Elements
was produced by Moreno/Lyons Productions LLC.
Major funding for The Mystery of Matter: Search for the Elements was provided by the National Science Foundation, where discoveries begin. Additional funding provided by The Arthur Vining Davis Foundations, dedicated to strengthening America’s future through education.
Support for the development of The Mystery of Matter project was provided by the Chemical Heritage Foundation, The Otto Haas Charitable Trust and The Camille & Henry Dreyfus Foundation.
Support for The Mystery of Matter website and educational applications was provided by the Wyncote Foundation,The Dreyfus Foundation and the Arthur Vining Davis Foundations.
All support for The Mystery of Matter was administered by Filmmakers Collaborative.
The Mystery of Matter: Search for the Elements is a production of Moreno/Lyons Productions in association with Oregon Public Broadcasting, which are solely responsible for its content. The series was filmed in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts with the support of the Massachusetts Film Office.
© 2015 Moreno/Lyons Productions LLC. All rights reserved.
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