Once again our Editor-at-Large, Seán Ottewell, has given us an interesting history lesson coupled with a tie to the chemical industry. This time he tackles Tycho Brahe’s mysterious work and points out that Danish scientists have now shed some light on the chemical substances Brahe kept secret.

This week, we also heard from frequent contributor Dave Russell regarding the remediation of contaminated sites. He notes that mistakes leading to very expensive or incomplete cleanups by marginally competent or incompetent practitioners often result in lawsuits.

And finally, I chatted with Dave Strobhar about the importance of testing employee skills. Don’t think that an operator at one site can seamlessly move to another site and hit the ground running. Oftentimes, knowledge isn’t up to snuff.  – Traci Purdum, editor-in-chief