Mystery of Matter wins 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.


Welcome, Russian visitors!

In the last week, we’ve noticed a sharp uptick in the number of visitors to our blog from Russia. There have actually been six times as many visitors from Russia as from the United States!

We’re delighted to see your interest in the blog and the Mystery of Matter project ... but also curious: What has sparked this sudden surge of interest? Can one of you let us know? You can leave a comment either here on the blog or on our Facebook page at:


Finally, we wanted to be sure you're aware there is much more Mystery of Matter content available at our website. There you’ll find (among other things) the entire PBS series playable as a series of short clips accessible from the For Teachers section of the website, plus 32 freestanding short videos on various topics in chemistry – including several on Dmitri Mendeleev. Please visit the website and let us know what you think of these pieces, with a comment here on the blog or on our Facebook page.

You’ll find the website at: www.mysteryofmatter.net.