by Terrie Goldstein

I have been getting emails from Dr. Tody Rossman about the Hudson Valley Science Café for a number of months now. Each month the group meets in Newburgh and features a guest who discusses a specific scientific topic.

I am not a scientist, although I did get through both chemistry and physics, but some of the topics Dr. Rossman included in her e-mail blasts sounded intriguing. In fact, two months ago I went so far as to put their meeting date in my planner.

Then I received a note that they were going to discuss "From Sherlock Holmes to CSI: Chemistry as a Forensic Science."

I am a mystery nut and have followed female sleuths like Kay Scarpetta, and Kathy Riechs' character Temperance Brennan. I have been fascinated with Swedish authors like Helene Tursten with her character Detective Inspector Irene Huss. My husband and I don't have cable or regular television, but we do enjoy the mystery DVD series like Wire in the Blood, with psychologist and profiler Dr. Tony Hill.

So this science café presentation really tantalized me. I wasn't sure who would be there. Where they all going to be scientists who would ask technical questions that would go right over my head?

It was worth a try. The presentation was only a half-hour and it was close to home. How bad could it be?

The group meets at It's All Good, a restaurant on Washington Avenue, across the street from the City of Newburgh park and ball stadium. Parking was plentiful and the small crowd welcoming.

The speaker, James Spencer, is a professor of chemistry at Syracuse University, and he offered a lighthearted and thoroughly interesting presentation.

Did you know that techniques introduced in the Sherlock Holmes series foreshadowed methods currently in use? For example, Holmes talked about testing blood to see if they could identify the culprit before this method was even viable. 

How about the burning of witches?

The story goes that a number of women in a small town in Massachusetts suffered from fevers and then severe shaking which then led to wild dance-like movements. These movements would subside and then begin again. Many of these women were drowned, burned at the stake and some were imprisoned. Where the townspeople were generally very calm, they became irrational. These episodes lasted for about a year. All of a sudden the women in prison were miraculously healed. They no longer had fevers or shakes. The townspeople returned to their original calm demeanor. Life went on as usual.

Many years later scientists revisited these incidents to uncover the causes for these strange behaviors. Apparently, the women who worked in the wheat fields were most susceptible. But why?

That year was unusually wet and the harvested wheat was host to a fungus called wheat ergot. When ingested it affects the central nervous system, causing uncontrolled behaviors.  Once the weather returned to normal the wheat fungus was no longer present and both the "witches" and the townspeople returned to normal.

Now I am hooked and can't wait to see what other wonders the Hudson Valley Science Café uncovers. Why don't you join us? The group usually meets on the 4th Tuesday of each month at 7pm.

E-mail Dr. Rossman at toby.rossman@nyumc.org and ask to receive her monthly newsletter. You can also view upcoming topics at cafescientifique.org/hudsonvalley.htm

Upcoming sessions include:

August 26th

            Turning genes off and on

September 16th

            Inflammation and the

            downfall of Vioxx

October 28th

            Why people believe in

            pseudoscientific and

            paranormal claims

November 18th

            The astronomic search for

            the origins of life on Mars

December 16th

            The future of drug discovery