# Best Of: Chemistry Professor and Crime Buster: The Remarkable Life of Mary Louisa Willard

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/lost-women-of-science-4474223/best-of-chemistry-professor-and-crime-buster-the-remarkable-life-of-mary-louisa-willard
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/lost-women-of-science-4474223/best-of-chemistry-professor-and-crime-buster-the-remarkable-life-of-mary-louisa-willard.md
Podcast: [Lost Women of Science](https://stenobird.com/podcast/lost-women-of-science-4474223)
Published: 2026-04-30T03:00:00+00:00
Episode link: https://play.prx.org/listen?ge=prx_413_e7ca3c86-3466-4897-950f-1d9e17690646&uf=https%3A%2F%2Ffeed.lostwomenofscience.org
Audio file: https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/tracking.swap.fm/track/sblTq32fyWAjsHzze2LG/dovetail.prxu.org/_/413/e7ca3c86-3466-4897-950f-1d9e17690646/MARY_LOUISA_WILLARD_-_05.21-24_v4_PART_1_-_with_pickup.mp3
Processing state: not_requested
JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/lost-women-of-science-4474223/episodes/best-of-chemistry-professor-and-crime-buster-the-remarkable-life-of-mary-louisa-willard
Duration seconds: 1845

## Resource

“The only time I ever saw something that I thought was abnormal…there was a human arm in the refrigerator,” said J. Peter Willard about his aunt, Mary Louisa Willard. Otherwise, he insisted, she was “very normal.” But Mary Louisa Willard, a chemistry professor at Pennsylvania State University in the late 1920s, left a strong impression on most people, to say the least. Her hometown of State College, Pennsylvania, knew her for stopping traffic in her pink Cadillac to chat with friends, and for throwing birthday bashes for her beloved cocker spaniels. Police around the world knew her for her side hustle: using chemistry to help solve crimes. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

## Actions

- request_transcript: `POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/lost-women-of-science-4474223/episodes/best-of-chemistry-professor-and-crime-buster-the-remarkable-life-of-mary-louisa-willard/transcription-requests` — Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode.
- read_markdown: `GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/lost-women-of-science-4474223/best-of-chemistry-professor-and-crime-buster-the-remarkable-life-of-mary-louisa-willard.md` — Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource.

A page view does not enqueue transcription. Agents should invoke `request_transcript` explicitly when they need this episode processed.

## Transcript

Full transcripts are not published on public pages unless there is a clear rights basis.