Virtual Talk with Science Historian Lucy Santos

Join us for a virtual talk by science and technology historian Lucy Jane Santos, "From Elixirs to Isotopes: The Curious Medical History of Uranium."

Long before uranium became synonymous with nuclear energy and weapons, it had a surprising role in medicine. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, uranium compounds were marketed in everything from diabetes treatments to so-called "health tonics," and even infused into wine. By the 1950s, the atomic age brought renewed interest in uranium’s potential, leading to experimental therapies and radioactive health products that now seem dangerously misguided.

About Lucy Jane Santos

Specialising in the late 19th and early 20th century Lucy Jane Santos is a freelance historian and consultant uncovering the hidden stories of how science and technology have transformed daily life, especially when it comes to innovations in beauty practices. Her debut, Half Lives: The Unlikely History of Radium was shortlisted for the 2021 BSHS Hughes Prize which recognises books that communicate the history of science in an engaging and accessible way to non-specialists. Her latest book, Chain Reactions: A Hopeful History of Uranium was shortlisted for the 2025 National Centre for Writing’s Book of the Year (History) Awards. Lucy is currently working on Nobody’s Perfect: On the Set of Some Like It Hot, which will be released in 2026. Lucy also writes about radioactivity on the Museum of Radium.

This free event is co-hosted by the Mobile Medical Museum and the Medical Humanities Program at the Frederick P. Whiddon College of Medicine, University of South Alabama.

RSVP by 10/15 to YWRtaW4gfCBtb2JpbGVtZWRpY2FsbXVzZXVtICEgb3Jn to receive a Zoom invitation.

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