Thread of History: A Chemist Yankee into Lord Nelson’s Coat Surrounded by shelves of chemistry books and techniques, Hark and Pretzel analyzed the state of academic papers, a man unwraps the protective pigment in the coat. packaging around what appears to be a coaster. “We worked out a deal where they sent me some But by his caution and care, I knew that this was no samples of the fibers in the wool uniform taken from ordinary coaster—if it was one at all. inconspicuous places in the jacket,” he says. They also I was sitting in the office of Richard Hark, professor were able to work directly with the coat itself. of chemistry at Juniata. The object “I literally had to stand behind the uniform and he’d revealed is called a portrait press my hand against it so that miniature. The dainty painting, the instrument could take data however, was not the reason I’d samples against the part of the come to talk to him. Instead, I was coat supported by my hand. I kind interested in the uniform of the of felt like I was holding Nelson celebrated Lord Nelson, the British up, it was a bit of historical renaval hero whose statue adorns the creation in a very strange sense,” great column in Trafalgar he says. Square, London. One night after working with The relationship between an the coat, Hark came home to historic article of clothing, a piece discover something he’d never of art, and a chemistry professor forget. “I had blue fuzz on my is best explained by Hark himself, pants, and it was literally a little “It’s the intersection of art, piece of Nelson. But I’m not some history, and science that is really teenybopper from the ’60s who appealing to me. I enjoy working wouldn’t wash my pants because in that atmosphere,” he says. they had a piece of fame on them,” He’d found himself he says. He couldn’t hide the immersed in that same excitement in his smile, though. intersection last summer at He also can’t hide his love for London’s Victoria and Albert history, especially British naval Chemist Richard Hark Museum where a friend and history. “I guess I’m drawn to that has worked on rare art in previous tri colleague, Boris Pretzel, was era: the sense of discovery, the very ps to England , but examining the uniform contacted by the National different ethic in terms of a sense coat of British naval hero Lord Horat io Nelson is a Maritime museum to work on a of honor, and the action. There’s personal highlight for the Juniata professor. project of particular interest to not much swordplay in the lab, and Hark. As the principal scientist there aren’t many opportunities for at the V&A, Pretzel was asked to analyze men to test themselves in stressful why Lord Nelson’s coat was fading. circumstances,” he elaborates. “There’s something Horatio Nelson was best known as admiral of the appealing about the fantasy component—of what you British fleet that defeated the French and Spanish in would do in a similar situation,” he says. several major naval battles of the Napoleonic wars. Hark plans on returning to England to continue his The National Maritime Museum, in Greenwich, was research this May. Despite his profession and expertise, concerned with how the museum’s lighting might affect Hark maintains his interest and passion for history, “If I the fading of the coat. hadn’t been a chemist, I would have been a historian.” As an avid fan of British naval war history, Hark seized the opportunity to be a part of this research —Ellen Santa Maria ’12 is a Juniata Associate from Wallingford, Pa. project. Using Raman spectroscopy and other 2012 Fall-Winter
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