How the Color Mauve Saved Millions of Lives
SciShow · Published on October 19, 2026
Loved this video? Share it!
Send it to someone who'll love it, or post it on your networks.
Description
In 1856, a young chemistry whiz failed so spectacularly at whipping up a cure for malaria, he accidentally invented the color mauve. He also accidentally opened up an entirely new field of science. A field that synthesized everything from perfumes, to pesticides, to perhaps some pills inside your medicine cabinet right now. Hosted by: Hank Green (he/him) ---------- Support us for $8/month on Patreon and keep SciShow going! https://www.patreon.com/scishow Or support us directly: https://complexly.com/support Join our SciShow email list to get the latest news and highlights: https://mailchi.mp/scishow/email ---------- Huge thanks go to the following Patreon supporters for helping us keep SciShow free for everyone forever: ., Adam Brainard, Alex Hackman, Anita, Anne Herrington, Ashley Moquin, Bethany Matthews, Blood Doctor Kelly, Chris Curry, Chris Mackey, Chris Peters, Cye Stoner, David Johnston, Eric Jensen, Friso, Garrett Galloway, J.V. Rosenbalm, Jaap Westera, Jacob Puthoff, Jason A Saslow, Jeremy Mattern, Jon Coffman, Joseph Ruf, Jp Lynch, Kevin Bealer, Kevin Knupp, Lyndsay Brown, Matt Curls, Piya Shedden, Shaji John, Steve Gums, Timos Gies, Toyas Dhake, yeyette ---------- Looking for SciShow elsewhere on the internet? SciShow Tangents Podcast: https://scishow-tangents.simplecast.com/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@scishow Instagram: http://instagram.com/thescishow Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/scishow Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/scishow.bsky.social #SciShow #science #education #learning #complexly ---------- Sources: https://docs.google.com/document/u/1/d/e/2PACX-1vSTPnLcYLNu7nB36-LC0ehIc-0S9Qt9eh1eNMmV9amWVYPa7HGKjO5ErVcOFuVLfxoe8Zb1w8LKY510/pub