Professor Mike Cross

Michael Cross, associate professor of chemistry at Northern Essex Community College, will give a presentation on “Medical Quackery” on Dec. 5. at 7 p.m. as a part of the annual meeting of the Georgetown Historical Society.  Free and open to the public, the presentation will be held at the Georgetown Peabody Library, 2 Maple St., Georgetown, MA.

Following a brief business meeting, Professor Cross will discuss the Golden Age of Quackery, a time when snake oil salesmen sold patent medicines to an unsuspecting public.

The lecture will present many of the scientific and medical “quack” tonics and devices so prevalent during the 19th and 20th centuries as well as their modern counterparts.

Cross promises that those attending will learn to tell scientific fact from fiction and avoid falling prey to the snake oil huckster of today.

Cross teaches chemistry and forensic science at Northern Essex. He believes that education should be fun and exciting. He enjoys incorporating demonstrations and magic tricks into his teaching.

Mike holds a Ph.D. in organic chemistry from the University of Utah where he specialized in oxidative lesions in DNA and RNA.

Light refreshments will be served.

His presentation is part of NECC’s Speakers’ Bureau.   For more information on the college’s Speakers’ Bureau visit the website, call 978 556-3862 or email speakersbureau@necc.mass.edu.