March 24, 1982

Associate Chemist at the Metropolitan Museum of Art Api Charola spoke about the use of X-ray fluorescence to the determine originality of pieces of art. “X-ray fluorescence is particularly valuable,” wrote Gordon Shepherd in The Miscellany News, “because it doesn’t require touching or damaging the surface of the art piece, as other forms of investigation do…. Showing slides of ornate sixteenth century brass clocks, Charola said that brasses differ in their concentrations of zinc and copper…. Charola’s talk revealed not only much about the workings of the famous museum in New York, but also described a technique that bridges what many people consider to be a wide gap between science and art.”

Ms. Charola taught chemical analysis at Vassar in 1977-78.