Bowen's Kale

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A jar of Bowen's Kale, in the collection of the Museum of the History of Science, University of Oxford, England Bowen's Kale.jpg
A jar of Bowen's Kale, in the collection of the Museum of the History of Science, University of Oxford, England

Bowen's Kale was a reference material produced by British chemist Humphry Bowen and used for the calibration of early scientific instruments intended to measure trace elements during the 1960s. [2]

Contents

With Peter Cawse, Bowen grew, dried, and crushed a large amount of marrow-stem kale [3] (Brassica oleracea var. medullosa) into 100 kilograms (220 lb) of a homogeneous and stable powder in 1960 that was subsequently freely distributed to researchers around the world for over two decades. This was probably the first successful example of such a de facto standard. [4] Bowen's Kale stimulated preparation of further materials by other organizations for similar use.

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References

  1. "Jar of Bowen's Kale (Botanical Reference Material), Prepared by H. J. M. Bowen, 1960s". Oxford: Museum of the History of Science . Retrieved 18 January 2015.
  2. Katz, S. A. (January 2002). "Bowen's Kale: A brief review dedicated to the late Professor Humphry John Moule Bowen, 1929–2001". Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry . 251 (1): 3–5. doi:10.1023/A:1015021823497. S2CID   93854964.
  3. Bowen's Kale Archived 2016-12-21 at the Wayback Machine : A brief review dedicated to the late Professor Humphry John Moule Bowen, 1929–2001
  4. Moffatt, J. Michael (17 October 2001). "Humphry Bowen: Practical botanist and chemist exploring the natural world". The Guardian .

Bibliography