Classnotes“ThePeriodicTableoftheelements”RichSeifertOSHERLLI
WithhelpfromPaulReichardt
Crucialreferencetextsforthiscourse:
“TheDisappearingSpoon”
(andothertalesofMadness,LoveandtheHistoryofthePeriodicTableofthe
Elements”)
bySamKean
“UncleTungsten”–Talesofachemicalboyhood.ByOliverSacks.
Withsomeadornmentsfrom:“TheageofWonder”byRichardHolmes
Also,TheDVDfromPBStitled”“TheMysteryofMatter”–SearchfortheElements.
And:TheEducationalvideos:
http://www.learner.org/courses/chemistry/video/vidbyunit_4.html
OliverSacksinterview:https://www.nbclearn.com/portal/site/learn/search
http://www.cc.com/video-clips/7rghbc/the-daily-show-with-jon-stewart-oliversacks
FirstdayApril7,2016:firstlet'sdoabitoforientation:•weneedtogettoknow
oneanotheronthefollowingthings:
-howmanyofyouarefamiliarwithchemistryorhavenochemistryatall?
-Howmanyofyoufeelfairlyfamiliarwiththeperiodictableoftheelements?
LetmeshowyoutheperiodictableoftheelementsandthenI'mgoingtoreferto
mostlythetextofthebookbySamKean,called"TheDisappearingSpoon".Kean,
likeme,isagraduate-levelphysicistbytraining.Forthatreason,Ishareagreatdeal
ofcommonperceptionwithhimandfindhisbookthemostrevealingtome
personally.I'mgoingtobeusingalotofvignettesfromhisbookbecauseitissorich
ingoodstories.AsyouknowIpromisedinthedescriptionofthiscourseinthe
OsherLifelongLearningoverview,togooverthewonderful,crazy-goodstoriesthat
theperiodictablehasengendered.
Thefirstthingwe'lldointhecourseisI'lltryandposttwoveryillustrative
examplesoftheperiodictableasitexistsnow.Itiscommonlypresented/featuredin
chemistryclassesaroundtheuniverse.It'swhatwereallmostfamiliarwith.Kean
saystheperiodictableseemsalmostorganizedandhonedliketheGerman
engineeringconceptformaximumscientificutilitywhenitwasfirstpromulgated
andwe’llllgooverMendeleev’sanguishingsortofdevelopmentofthecreationof
theperiodictableaspartofthesecondhourofthecourse.Itoriginallyseemedas
thoughtheperiodictablehadsomethingtodowithbiologyandphysics,butnoone
reallyquiterecognizedthatatfirst.Keanmakesananalogythatit'sthesortof
irritationcolorblindpeoplemustfeelwhenthefullysightedfindsevensandnines
lurkinginsidethosepartlycoloreddotdiagrams.Theyconcealcrucialhidden
informationthatneverquiteresolvesitselfintocoherence…atfirstatleast.Ifyou
lookatthetableitsortoflookslikeabigcastlewith“rooks”,towersoneachofthe
sideswiththeharshalkaliearthsontheleftside,andtheinertgasesontheright.
Eachsquareorbrickisanelement.Asofnowonehundredand12withafewmore
pending,butreally92arenaturallyoccurring,andtheinterestingthingisthatthe
entirecastle“quota"wouldcrumbleifanyofthosebricksdidn’tstayexactlywhere
itdoes.
Ofcoursetherearedifferentmaterialsasyougofromlefttoright.Thechemical
characteristicschangefromverystrongmetalswithmetalliccharacteristicstosemimetalsintheright-handportiontosubstancesontherightthatdonothavethe
samecharacteristicsasmetalsatall.Afewcolumnsonthewhat'stherightsideas
you'refacingit(Keancallsittheeasternside)containthegases.Onlytwoelements,
Mercuryandbromine,areliquidsatroomtemperature.Inbetweentherearesome
quirkythings,andwe’lltalkaboutthem.Somehaveaveryamorphousnaturewhich
givessomeofthoseelementsinterestingpropertiessuchastheabilitytomakeacids
billionsoftimesstrongerthananythinglockedupinthechemicalsupplyroom.
Let'satsomeofthefarright-handsideelements,thoseknownasthenoblegases.
Theuseoftheword“noble”isanarchaic,funny-soundingword:lesschemistrythan
ethicsorphilosophy.Andit'satermthatgoesbacktothebirthplaceofWestern
philosophy:ancientGreece.Platoinventedtheword“element”andalsoweshould
giveatipofthehattotheGreeks,LeucippusandDemocritus,whoinventedtheidea
ofAtoms,elements(inGreek(stoichae)),ingeneralatermfordifferentsmall
particlesofmatter.
ItisinterestingthatKeansaysthatPlatoleftAthensforhisownsafetyafterthe
deathofhismentorSocrates,around400BCandwanderedaroundwriting
philosophyforyears.Helackedknowledgeofwhatanelementreallyisinchemistry
terms.Butifhehadknownhenodoubtwould'veselectedtheelementsonthe
easternedgeofthetableasespeciallyappealingfavorites,ashewasverymuchfixed
ontheideaoftheperfectcomplete-in-themselvesperceptionofentities…thatthere
wasaperfectidealeverywhereinthemind’seyewhichneverquitemeasuredupin
thevisibleworld.Theseweretheperfectidealatoms(platonicforms)completein
themselves.AnywayyougetthepictureIthink.Noblegassesdon’t“bond”,easilyat
least,withanyotheratoms.Theyare“perfected,completeatomexamples”,all
“chemicaldesiresfulfilled”.Interestinglyheliumisprobablythebestexampleofan
elementinthePlatonicsense.Insubstanceitcannotbebrokendownoralteredby
normalchemicalmeans.Ittookscientists2200yearsfromGreecein400BCto
Europein1800A.D.tograspwhatelementsreallyare,becausemostareso
changeable.Todaywewouldsaythatcarbondioxideforinstanceisn'tanelement
becauseonemoleculeofitdividesintocarbonandoxygen,andcarbonandoxygen
areelements.Youcan'tdividethemmorefinelywithoutdestroyingthem.Toreturn
toPlato'stheoryof“thesymposium”andhisideaofasortoferoticlongingforthe
missinghalf,wefindthatvirtuallyeveryelementseeksoutotheratomsof
complimentaryformand“valence”toformbonds.Bondsmasktheelementalnature
ofeventhemostpureelements,suchasoxygenmoleculesintheair,whichalways
appearascompositesinnature(O2).Italsoisinterestingtonotethatheliumwasn't
easilyfoundonearthandthatitsname“helium”comesfromHelios(thesun)
becauseitwasfirstdetectedusingaspectroscopeanddeducingfromsunlightthat
therewasanelementonthesun,whichwasnotdetectedonearth.Veryclever,
thesehumans,not?
ThereisalongdiscussioninKeanaboutfillingthelevelsofelectronenergyasfullas
possibletocompletetheoutermostlevel,whichisessentiallywhathappenswhen
youmakeacompound.Someelementsshareandtradeelectronsdiplomatically,
whileothersarevery,verynasty,i.e.violentchemistry,explosionsandsuch.This
wholeideaisoneofthebasicconceptsinchemistryandI'mnotgoingtotalkabout
itagreatdealbecauseifyou'vehadanychemistry,youalreadyknowthat.
Thoughtproblem:Whatisyourimage,concept,visualthoughtwhenyouthink“
atom?”
Oneofthethingsthatallscientistsandparticularlyperhapschemistshavestruggled
withiswhatexactlyanatomis.Itshouldbepointedoutearlyonthatthereisnever
goingtobeawaytoseeanatominthesensethatweseeotherobjectsintheworld.
Thesizeoftheatom,andthesizesoftheparticlesthatmakeuptheatomareall
belowthefarbelow,ordersofmagnitudebelow,thewavelengthoflight,sohat
theywon’treflectlightbecauselightsimplypassesthembywithoutbeingreflected
onthem.Theironyofthefactthatifyouputawholecollectionofatomstogether
likeinasolidobjectthatreflectslight,wellthisissomehow,atleasttome,
conceptuallydifficult.Exactlyhowdoesthatwork?
Before1890scientistsjudgedacidsandbasesbytastingorduckingtheirfingersin
them:notexactlythesafestandmostreliablemethods.Butwithinafewdecades,
Scientistsrealizedthatacidswereinessenceprotondonors.Manyacidscontain
hydrogen,asimpleelement,consistingofoneelectroncirclingoneproton.That'sall
hydrogenhasforanucleus,Whenanacidlikehydrochloricacidmixeswithwaterit
meldsintohydrogenandchlorine.Removingthenegativeelectronsfromhydrogen
leavesjustabareproton(pHplus)whichswimsawayonitsown.Weakacidslike
vinegarpopafewpotentprotonsinthesolutionwhilestrongacidslikesulfuricacid
floodthesolutionwiththem.Oneoftheworstacidsisbasedonantimony,an
elementwithprobablythemostcolorfulhistoryoftheperiodictable.
NebuchadnezzarthekingwhobuiltthehangingGardensofBabyloninthesixth
centuryBC,usedanoxiousantimony-basedleadmixtopainthispalacewalls
yellow.Perhapsnotcoincidentallyhesoonwentmad,sleepingoutdoorsinfields
andeatinggrasslikeanox.AtthesametimeEgyptianwomenwereapplying
differentformofantimonyasmascara,bothtodecoratetheirfacesandtogivethem
selveswitch-likepowerstocasttheevileyeonenemies.Latermedievalmonksnot
tomentionSirIsaacNewton,grewobsessedwiththesexualpropertiesofantimony,
anddecidedthishalf-metal,half-insulator,neitheronethingnortheother,wasa
hermaphrodite.Antimonypillswonfameaslaxatives,andIdon'tseetheconnection
there,butthat'sapparentlythedirectionthingswent.Unlikemodernpillsthese
hardantimonypillspauseanddissolveintheintestinesandthepillswere
consideredsovaluable,thatpeopleroutedthroughfecalmattertoretrieveand
reusethem.Someluckyfamiliesevenpassedonlaxativesfromfathertoson.
Perhapsforthisreasonantimonyfoundheavyworkasmedicine,althoughit's
actuallytoxic.Mozartprobablydiedfromtakingtoomuchofittocombatasevere
fever.
Let'sturnnowtosomeoftheotherrelationshipsinthechemicalworldwhichgive
perspective.Forinstance,electronbehaviordrivestheperiodictable.Buttoreally
understandtheelementsyoucanignorethepartthatmakesupmorethan99%of
theirmass,thenucleus.Now,let'sthinkaboutthatforabit.Hereisthisvery
fundamentalaspect,theelectron,whichgivesmostofthechemicalpropertiestothe
element,yetitislessthan1%ofthemass,areallyremarkablerevelation.The
nucleusforinstance,obeysthedictatesofprobablythemostunlikelyNobellaureate
ever:awomanwhosecareerwasisatrueposterchildfortheoppressionofwomen
inscience:hernamewasMariaGeoppert.ShewasborninGermanyin1906and
eventhoughherfatherwasasixthgenerationprofessor,Mariahadtrouble
convincingaPhDprogramtoadmitawoman.Soshebouncedfromschooltoschool
takinglectureswherevershecould.Shefinallyearnedherdoctorateatthe
UniversityofHannoverdefendingathesisinfrontofprofessorsshe'dnevermet.
Notsurprisingly,withnorecommendationsorconnections,nouniversitywould
hireher.Upongraduationshewouldenterscienceonlyobliquely.
InspiteofthestrugglesMariaGeopperthad,alongwithherhusbandtheystruggled
throughtheGreatDepression,andtheyhungaroundtheUniversityofChicagoand
whenitcametotheManhattanproject,receivedaninvitationtoparticipate,but
onlyperipherally.Mariagotworkonauselesssideproject,separatinguranium
withflashinglights,whateverthatmaymean.AfterWorldWarIIshe,alongwithher
husbandreturnedtotheUniversityofChicagowhichfinallytookherseriously
enoughtomakeherprofessorofphysics.Howeveritshouldbenotedthatthough
shegotherownoffice,shestilldidnotgetpaid.Shedecidedtolookintothe
structureofneutronsandprotons,andsuggestedthatprotonsandneutrons,the
nucleus,hadshells,justlikeelectrons.Sheinferredthatnuclearshellsarewhatlead
tothestabilityofatoms(orconsequentinstability.likefissionableatoms).What's
more,theidearufflednuclearscientists,sincechemicalandnuclearprocessesare
independentisnoreasonwhydependablestay-at-homeneutronsandprotons
shouldbehaveliketinycapriciouselectronswhichabandontheirhomesfor
attractiveneighbors.Keepinmindthat99%ofthemassoftheatomisinthe
nucleus.Butthestudynoticedsomethingelse;thesimplestelementintheuniverse,
hydrogen,isalsothemostabundant.Thesecondsimplestelement,helium,isthe
secondmostabundant.Inanaestheticallytidyuniversethethirdelement,lithium
wouldbethethirdmostabundantandsoon.Ouruniverseisn'ttidy.Thethirdmost
commonelementisoxygen,elementeight.Butwhy?Scientistsmightanswerthat
oxygenisaverystablenucleus,soitdoesn'tdisintegrateordecay.Butthatonly
pushedthequestion.Certainelementslikeoxygenhavesuchstablenucleisoare
sortofthe“survivors”oftheatomicworld.ThisstartedGoeppertonherconjectures
thatneutronshaveshellsjustlikeelectrons,andthatfillingnuclearshellsleadsto
stability.Toanoutsiderthisseemsreasonableandniceanalogy.ButNobelprizes
arenotwononconjectures,especiallythosebyunpaidfemaleprofessors.What's
more,theidearufflednuclearscientistssincechemicalandnuclearprocessesare
independent.Goeppertpursuedherhunch,andbypiecingtogetheranumberof
unlinkedexperiments,sheprovedthatnucleidohaveshellsanddoformwhatshe
calledmagicnuclei.Themagichappensatatomicnumbers2,8,20,28,50,82,and
soon.Goeppert-Mayer’sworkprovedhowatthosenumbersprotonsandneutrons
marshaledthemselvesintoahighlystablenuclei,symmetricalspheres.Thismodel
explainsatastrokewhyelementssuchascalcium(20)aredisproportionately
plentifulandnotincidentallywhyourbodiesemploythesereadilyavailable
materials.
Andthisinturnprovidessomethingveryveryprofound:aninsight.
FirstofallatsomepointinthisbookKeanmentionsthefactthat99.96%ofthe
universeconsistsofjusthydrogenandhelium.Everythingelse,alloftheother
elements,all88oftheother“naturallyoccurringones”,makeupjust.04%ofthe
universe.Soalmosteverythingyousee,thatisimportanttolife(exceptforthe
waterandsomeofthecarbohydrates)islessthan.04%oftheuniverse!Everything
that'simportanttous,alloftheseelementsthathavethesepropertiesnecessaryfor
chemistry,andtheseabundancesthatarecrucialtolife,inparticular,carbon,are
veryrareintheuniverse.Eventhoughcarbon'schemistry(andPaulReichardtwill
certainlyconfirmthatI'mrightonthis)isvastlyimportant.Therearemorecarbon
compoundsthanalltheotherphysicalcompoundsofchemistryputtogether.Yetit's
suchasmallportionofthetotalityoftheuniverse!Thisjustishumbling,astounding,
revealing,andtome,inspiringeven.
SomeofyoumayknowthatIhavetaughtacourseinthepastonthe“RareEarth
hypothesis,”.Howmanyhavetakenthatcourse?
Theinsightfromthatcourserevealsthattherearemanyaspectsoftheearththat
makemebelievepersonally(andItryandpersuadeothers)thattheearthisindeed
rareandwondrous.Peoplehavewrittenbooksaboutthis.Theearthhasaseriesof
perhapsquiterareandevenuniqueaspectsandcharacteristicswhichmaymakethe
factthatlifeonearthishere,perhapsaveryrarethingintheuniverse,extremely
rare!Oneoftherarestthings,andjustonemorefactorintherarityandthe
necessityofhavingaplanetwhichismostlymadeupnotofthemostcommon
materialsintheuniverse.ImeanIdon'tknowhowthatequationworksoutonthe
earth.Yesthere'salotofhydrogeninallthewater.Butitiscertainlynotthe
dominantelementintheEarth'scrust,Ithinkironisatleastbymass.Itcertainly
mustbebymass.There'salotofoxygenaswell.
Inthisaside,Iwantedtopointout,becauseit'spartofwhyIthinkthe
understandingoftheperiodictableisnotonlyanintellectuallygiantstep,butitis
importanttorealizejusthowrareandimportantallthesewonderfulelementsare
intheschemeoftheuniverse.Tous,it'sabsolutelycrucialknowledge,anditmakes
mostofourscientificprogresspossible.It'saboutpeace,rarity,insight,andintellect
comingtogethertomakeaninterestingperceptionoftheworld.
SobacktotheMariaGeoppartstory:thenuclearshellmodelthenbecomesbrilliant
physicsandthat'swhynodoubttoprepareadefenseofit,givenherprecarious
stationamongscientists,todiscoverthatherinsightshadbeenalso(shared,codiscoveredinsimultaneousbutseparatework)bymalephysicistsinherhome
country,Germany,Geoppertfoundafterallherinsightthat,shemightrisklosing
creditforeverything.Howeverbothsideshadinfactproducedtheidea
independentlyandwhentheGermansgraciouslyacknowledgedherworkandasked
hertocollaborate,Goeppert-Mayer'scareertookoff.Shewonherownaccolades
andsheandherhusbandmovedthefinaltimein1959toSanDiego,whereshe
beganarealpayingjobwiththenewUniversityofCaliforniacampusthere.She
neverquiteshooktheimageintheacademyofbeingadilettante,andwhenthe
SwedishAcademyannouncedin1963thatshehadwonherprofession'shighest
honor,theNobelPrize,theSanDiegonewspapercelebratedherbigdaywiththe
headline"SDmotherwinsNobelPrize".
Backtotheperiodictable:tracingacrosseachrowrevealsalotabouttheelements..
Butthat'sonlypartofthestory,andnoteventhebestpart.Elementsinthesame
column,latitudinalneighborsareactuallyfarmoreintimatelyrelatedthan
horizontalneighbors.Peopleareusedtoreadingfromlefttorightorrighttoleft,in
virtuallyeveryhumanlanguage.Butreadingtheperiodictableupanddown,by
columns,asinsomeformsofJapanese,isactuallymoresignificant.Doingsoreveals
arichsubtextofrelationsamongelementsandunexpectedrivalriesand
antagonismsappear.Thetablehasitsowngrammarandreadingbetweenthelines
isasrevealingasanyotheraspect
Ok,Questionmoment:Anybodyevertakenanorganicchemistrycourse?
Let'smoveontoaspecificelement:carbon.Promiscuityiscarbon'svirtue.Unlike
oxygen,carbonmustformbondswithotheratomsinwhateverdirectionitcan.
Carbonbecauseitsharesitselectronswithuptofourotheratomsatonce,allowsit
tobuildcomplexcombinations,eventhree-dimensionalwebsandbecauseitcannot
stealelectrons,thebondsatformsaresteadyandstable.Socarboninthetrunkof
anaminoacidshareselectronswiththenitrogenthebottomofanotherandthe
proteinsarisewhentheseconnectablecarbonsandnitrogensarestrungalonga
prettymuchadinfinitum,likelettersinaveryverylongwordandwhileIyouhave
thisvastarrayofcomplicatedanddevastatinglydifficulttoomanyyoungbiologists
andbiochemists,whoentertheworldoforganicchemistry-“organic”meaningany
chemistrythathascarboninthemix.Becausetheverticalsequenceofcarbon,
silicon,andgermaniumisofsuchinterestbiologically,letsgoforaquickmoment
intothewholepictureandgiveaninsightofwhysilicon,becauseit'snotthebasisof
carbonlife,isdangeroustous,insteadofusefullikecarbon.Onereasonisthatthere
areseveralsilicon-baseddiseasesthatarevariantsofanincurablelungcondition
calledpneumoconiosis.Thisresemblespneumoniasanddiseasesthatinhaling
asbestoscauses,aharrowinglungdisease.Silicondioxide,themajorcomponentof
sandandglass(andquartzminerals)cancausepneumonia.Constructionworkers
whosandblastalldayandinsulationplantassembly-lineworkerswhoinhaleglass
dustoftencomedownwithasilicabaseddiseases,becausesilicondioxideisthe
mostcommonmineralintheearth’scrust,oneothergroupofsusceptiblepeople
liveinthevicinityofactivevolcanoes.Mostpowerfulvolcanoespulverizesilicainto
finebitsandspewmegatonsofitintotheair,wherebitsarepronetowrigglinginto
lungsacs.Becauseourlungsregularlydealwithcarbondioxide,theyseenothing
wrongwithusingitscousin,silicadioxide,whichofcoursecanbefatal.Interestingly
KeanposesthatmanydinosaursmighthavediedthiswaywhenaManhattan-sized
asteroidorcometstrucktheEarth65millionyearsago.Interestingconceptbutif
youtookmycourseon“RareEarth”,youknowthereareotherspeculationsabout
thatsingulareventtoo.
Anotherinterestingquestion:Issiliconbased-lifetenable?
Thiscomesupofteninsciencefictionnovels.Nowsiliconenthusiastscanevenpoint
toafewanimalsonearththatemploysiliconintheirbodies,suchasseaurchins,
(thesiliconspikes)andradiolariaprotozoa,onecelledcreaturesthatformsilicon
shellsofskeletalarmor.Advancesincomputingartificialintelligencealsosuggest
thatsiliconcouldform“Brains”ascomplicatedasanycarbon-basedone.Thereisno
reasonyoucan’treplaceeveryneuroninyourbrainwithasilicontransistor.Now
thatisaterriblyunromanticconcept,butthat'sintheory.Ultimatelytherearealot
ofsingularaspectsofchemistry,andthenatureofthechemicalbondisonethat
causessilicatonotbeasadaptableascarbon.Itwon'tformringsforinstance,which
formsugarswhichinturnformalotofenergywhichisavailableforlifeforms.Soit
can'tbetheenergybasisforlifethewaymuchofcarbon-basedcompoundsare.All
this,andagainharpingonthat.04%oftheoftheuniversethatwerelyon.Without
it,lifejustwouldn'thappen.Soweshouldgetupeverydayandthankcarbon.It's
remarkablestuff.
Secondclassday:April14,2016
WhileyoumaythinkthatIamabouttocheat,andgotopre-madevideoeducational
mode,(wellIam,actually)butdon’tfaultmeforit.WhatIamgoingtoshownow
isaquitegooddramaticre-interpretationfotheearlyhistoryofchemistry,withthe
importantfiguresofMendeleev,Lavoisier,Priestley,andMariaSklodowska-Curie.
Thesefolks,especiallyMendeleev,aretheearlyscientistwhohadtheinsightsand
doggedwilltopursuetheknowledgeanddiscovertheintricateandmarvelous
relationshipbetweenwhatappearstobereal,andwhatisactuallythenatureof
chemicalreality.TheseriesIwilluseisaPBS/NSFdocumentarytitled“The
MysteryofMatter:SearchfortheElements”Ihopeyoucantakeyourselfoutofthe
momenthereinFairbanksandimaginetheera,1790-1815,theessenceofthe
romanticera,alsocalled“TheAgeofWonder”,byauthorandhistorianoftheera,
RichardHolmes.
Showvideo
Also,beforeIgoanyfurtherIwanttotalkaboutsomethingcalledthephlogiston
theory.
Agoodquestiontoposerightnowcourseshowmanyofyouhaveeverheardofthis
concept?
LetmenowtakesometimetopostsomethingfromtheWikipediawebsiteonthe
phlogistontheorywhichwillgiveanideaofwhatitisabout.Itwasreallyonlyevera
postulatedidea-neverreal.Itwasusedtoattempttoexplainwhathappenedwhen
bodiescombustedandreleasedenergywhentheyburned.
“Thephlogistontheoryisanobsoletescientifictheorythatpostulatedthatafirelikeelementcalledphlogistoniscontainedwithincombustiblebodiesandreleased
duringcombustion.ThenamecomesfromtheAncientGreekφλογιστόνphlogistón
(burningup),fromφλόξphlóx(flame).Itwasfirststatedin1667byJohannJoachim
Becher.Thetheoryattemptedtoexplainburningprocessessuchascombustionand
rusting,whicharenowcollectivelyknownasoxidation.”
Phlogisticated substances are substances that contain phlogiston and dephlogisticate when burned.
In general, substances that burned in air were said to be rich in phlogiston; the fact that combustion soon
ceased in an enclosed space was taken as clear-cut evidence that air had the capacity to absorb only a finite
amount of phlogiston. When air had become completely phlogisticated it would no longer serve to support
combustion of any material, nor would a metal heated in it yield a calx; nor could phlogisticated air support
life. Breathing was thought to take phlogiston out of the body.[1]
Thus, Becher described phlogiston as a process that explained combustion through a process that was
opposite to that of oxygen.
Joseph Black's student Daniel Rutherford discovered nitrogen in 1772 and the pair used the theory to
explain his results. The residue of air left after burning, in fact a mixture of nitrogen and carbon dioxide,
was sometimes referred to as phlogisticated air, having taken up all of the phlogiston. Conversely, when
oxygen was first discovered, it was thought to be dephlogisticated air, capable of combining with more
phlogiston and thus supporting combustion for longer than ordinary air.[2]
Now all of this theory sounds very strange to us today. But try to put yourself in the position of someone
who didn't understand combustion didn't even understand what the components of air was were and needed
to get a concept which seemed to work. Some of this discussion in how the phlogiston theory was
debunked comes out of work by Antoine Lavoisier, who is lionized in the video because he actually
measured what happened to substances when they rusted or burn and that in some cases particularly in the
rusting case (the oxidation case) things actually got heavier, so they couldn't have been releasing a
substance. They must've been adding something. This is one of the first indications of what was wrong
with the phlogiston theory. Still all things considered, it's remarkable idea and it lasted a long time and was
devoutly defended by many of its believers. At the same time it's a very good indication of how you should
not hold onto a theory even though it seems to work in some cases if one major failure seems to prove that
it is wrong.
Day three of the periodic table course April 21, 2016
There is a wonderful story about a Frenchman named LeCoq de Boisbaudran, who was born in the Cognac
region of France in 1838. He had used Robert Bunsen’s “burner”, (of the Bunsen burner fame and who also
invented the spectroscope) to become the best spectroscopic surgeon in the world, and he grew so adroit
that he spotted never-before-seen bands of color in a mineral, a spectral sign. He concluded instantly and
correctly, that he had discovered a new element. He named it gallium after “gallia”, the Latin name for
France. But others accused him, and I'd have to say that because his name was LECOQ that conspiracy
mongers accused him of slyly naming the element after himself since his name LeCoq, “the rooster” is
Gallus in Latin. It took a few years but by 1878 he had a nice pure hunk of gallium and though solid at
moderate room temperature. gallium melts at 84° F, meaning that if you hold it in the palm of your hand it
will melt into a grainy thick puddle of pseudo-Quicksilver. It is one of the few liquid metals you can touch
without boiling your finger to the bone. As a result, gallium has been a staple of practical jokes among the
chemical cognoscenti ever since. Forming the metal into a spoon and serving hot tea with that spoon, soon
worries guests as the spoon dissolves into the tea. Cute not?
When Mendeleev tried to cut in line and claim credit for gallium, based on his own projection of the
existence of an element which had not been discovered yet, but had in fact turned out to be gallium. For his
part Mendeleev scanned the work of the Frenchman and his data on gallium and told him with no
justification that he must've measured something wrong because the density and weight of gallium differed
from Mendeleev’s predictions. It actually turned out that that Mendeleev was a right, and LeCoq soon
retracted his data and published results that corroborated Mendeleev’s prediction. What's amazing about
this whole episode is that the theory predicted the reality, and did so before the reality became provable. It's
probably impossible to tease out whether the theory or the experiment has done more to push science ahead
but this example is really remarkable. Still the Russian had done good job, not? It should be added that this
whole episode of Mendeleev and LeCoq betrays a flabbergasting amount of gall. In describing Mendeleev,
a philosopher-historian of science, Eric Scerri put it this way: “Mendeleev always was willing to bend
nature to fit his grand philosophical scheme". The only difference between Mendeleev and crack-pottery is
that Mendeleev was right. It seems that Mendeleev was one of those righteous scientists who felt
astonished, yet also convinced of his discovered truth regarding the periodic table, because of its elegant,
inescapable simplicity. It seems he sometimes grew intoxicated at the power he felt with his revelation.
I have to say, with my awe at the whole periodic table, that he was truly a man of enormous insight, but
also arrogant as can be.
Before leaving the of the periodic table in its earliest incarnations I need to tell the story about a
braggadocio and teenager named Johan Friedrich Bacher. This guy was a chemical voodoo heir of the long
history of alchemists, trying to turn other metals into gold and in 1701 rumors of his efforts, his tricks
actually, reached the King of Poland: Augustus the strong, who arrested the young alchemist and locked
him Rumpelstiltskin-like in a castle to spin gold for the King’s realm. Now of course he couldn't do this,
but desperate to save his neck Bacher begged the King to spare him. To achieve this, he claimed to know
how to make porcelain. This was a big reach, but the king had an ace in another capable man working on
porcelain and it was very lucky for Bacher that that was the case. His name was Aaron Fried Walter von
Tschurnhaus. He'd invented a special oven that could reach 3000°F and this allowed him to meltdown
porcelain and analyze it. When the king ordered Bacher to become Tchurnhaus’ assistant, the research
took off and darned if both of them didn't actually figure out that you had to cook the porcelain glaze and
clay simultaneously, and that porcelain was a combination of kaolin in feldspar rock that fuses into glass at
high temperatures. Now the king thanked him profusely for coming up with this recipe, finally, and the
king thought porcelain would make him the most influential monarch in Europe. But of course it doesn't
take long for scientific chemical secrets to leak out and so the recipe spread throughout Europe and
Cressman improved and tinkered with it over the next half century. Now, move ahead to 1680 and we find
that Scandinavia, especially Sweden, is very interested in building porcelain stoves because porcelain
retains heat longer and doesn't deteriorate as quickly with oxidation as iron belly stoves do. Feed that
burgeoning interest industry in Europe a feldspar mine, opened a dozen miles or so from Stockholm on the
island of Ytterby in 1780. Ytterby is a small coastal village and it means “outer village”, and it's a tiny
little town with streets named for minerals and elements with a quarry that scooped ore from the Hill on the
southeast corner of the island and that supplied raw fine ore for porcelain and other purposes. The rocks in
this particular Quarry however produced exotic pigments and colored glazes in the process. Nowadays we
know that the bright colors are dead giveaways of the lanthanide elements in the mine. Ytterby was
unusually rich in them for geological reasons. It turns out that the pockets of lanthanide elements happened
to land up beneath Sweden when the earth was churning and molten. During the last ice age extensive
Scandinavian glaciers shaved off the surface of the land. In this final geological event the glacier exposed
the lanthanide-rich rock for easy mining near Ytterby. this ultimately left Sweden in a position to really
determine a great deal about the lanthanides and happened at a time when the Swedish enlightenment
conquered Sweden culturally and Scandinavians embraced rationalism enmass after finally leaving their
Viking mentality behind in the late 1600s. A fellow named Gadolin made significant process in isolating
clusters of the lanthanides as a mass, although he couldn't really isolate the lanthanide elements because he
didn't have the chemical tools at the time. But on the periodic table it appears as Ytterbium, and it was the
inspiration for ytterbium, yttrium, termium, and erbium and the three other unnamed elements before
running out of the local names, chemists adopted Holmium, after Stockholm, and Thulium, after the
mythic name for Scandinavia and at Le coq de Boisbuadran’s insistence gadolinium was named for
Gadolin as his namesake. Of all of the seven elements discovered in Ytterby, 6 were Mendeleev’s missing
lanthanides. History might've been very different had Mendeleev reworked his table incessantly and
might've filled in the entire lower realm of the table after cerium by himself if only he'd made the trip west
across in the Baltic Sea to this Galapagos island of the periodic table: one more interesting story
Chapter 4 of Sam Kean's book talks about where atoms come from" the great astronomer Carl Sagan saying
that “We are all star stuff.” This entire chapter describes where the elements come from, and is really an
evolution of stars and how stars ultimately fuse the elements of hydrogen and helium together in their cores
over their lives, to finally end up with iron, the most stable of all atomic nuclei. This is the realm
astrophysics but it tells us why we are star stuff, and why most of the universe is only hydrogen and
helium.
We encounter again the affirmation that so much of what is important to us, especially the carbon
chemistry and oxygen, and the trace elements are a miniscule part of the universe: ~ .04% of everything.
But now we move into the darker side of chemistry: how it figures in the ironies of saving the human food
production capacity while adding to the horrors of war, and we get into one of the most astounding and
troubling stories of the 20th century. The central character in this drama which involves the “east side”
chemistries of the periodic table, is Fritz Haber, and the Haber process. The whole history around his life
and World War I the idea of using gas chemicals for warfare, where elements were poisonous and used
against enemies started with the Spartans in ancient Greece. They crept up to the wall of Athens with
noxious bundles of wood, pitch, and stinky sulfur and then crouched outside the city walls waiting for the
coughing Athenians to succumb (sounds like something that happens in Fairbanks). Though as brilliant an
innovation as a Trojan horse, the tactic failed.
But chemical warfare progressed fitfully and for the next 2400 years it remained far inferior to say pouring
boiling oil on attackers. Interestingly up until World War I, gas had little strategic value. Not that countries
didn't recognize the threat. All the scientifically advanced countries signed a ban on chemical-based
weapons in war. But the only hold out, the United States, had a point. Gasses at the time were hardly more
powerful than pepper spray so it seemed hypocritical if countries were all too happy to mow down 18-yearolds with machine guns and sink warships with torpedoes and let sailors drown in the dark sea. The other
countries scoffed at the US cynicism, and ostentatiously signed the Hague pact, and promptly broke their
word.
Early secret work on chemical agents centered on bromine. Bromine figures that the end justifies the
means and shreds the weaker elements and atomic shells such as carbon to get its electron fix. Bromine
especially irritates the eyes and nose and by 1910 military chemists had developed bromine-based
lacrimator made so potent that it could make you cry with hot searing tears. Ironically it was the French
who used bromine lacrimators to collar a ring of Parisian bank robbers with ethyl-bromoacetate in 1912.
Word of this went quickly to France's neighbors who were right to worry. The French show started in 1914
and by August they were lobbing bromine shells onto advancing German troops. I personally had no idea
that this is how it started. And so the Germans fan the flames, blaming an unlucky case of carbon monoxide
poisoning in their barracks on secret French sabotage (which was false) to justify their own chemical
warfare program. We know what happened thereafter. Fritz Haber was one of the great minds in the
history of chemistry and became one the most famous scientists in the world by 1920. He figured out how
convert nitrogen from air to an industrial product. Although nitrogen gas can suffocate unsuspecting
people, it's usually benign. In fact it's benign almost to the point of uselessness, but it's needed in soil, as it
is as crucial to plants as vitamin C is to humans.
An aside seems worthy here. I want to talk a little bit about the word lacrimator. I have searched for the
dictionary definition of this word and it turns out it means an agent (for example, teargas) that irritates the
eyes and produces tears. It is from the Latin lacrima, which means “tear”. Following up on this and
seeking the Wikipedia citation for tear gas, I find this: a chemical weapon that causes severe eye,
respiratory, and skin irritation, pain, vomiting, and even blindness. In the eye, it stimulates the nerves of the
lacrimal gland to produce tears. Common lachrymators include pepper spray (OC gas), CS gas, CR gas, CN
gas (phenacyl chloride), nonivamide, bromoacetone, xylyl bromide, syn-propanethial-S-oxide (from
onions), and Mace (a branded mixture).
Lachrymatory agents are commonly used for riot control. Their use in warfare is prohibited by various
international treaties. During World War I, increasingly toxic lachrymatory agents were used.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tear_gas) Nuff said. Lachrymators are thought to act by attacking sulfhydryl
functional groups in enzymes. One of the most probable protein targets is the TRPA1 ion channel that is
expressed in sensory nerves (trigeminal nerve) of the eyes, nose, mouth and lungs.
Let me get back to Fritz Haber however and the Haber process. I'm going to pull a lot from Kean, because
he speaks about Haber with such irreverence. Haber invented the process to capture nitrogen . By heating
nitrogen to hundreds of degrees,, adding some crucial osmium as a catalyst, and Voila: common air
transmuted into ammonia, NH3. By the start of World War 1 people recognized that Haber’s chemistry had
already saved millions from Malthusian starvation. Ammonia is the precursor of all fertilizers , so farmers
need no longer be committed to compost piles or dung heaps to nurse their soil fertility.
But Haber cared little about hunger despite what he said to the contrary. He actually pursued cheap
ammonia to help Germany build nitrogen explosives. It's a sad truth that men like Haber pop up throughout
history. Petty Fausts who twist scientific innovations into efficient killing devices. Haber's story is famous
because he was so skilled. German military leaders, stalemated, recruited Haber to military service, though
set to make a fortune from government contracts patents, and gave him his own research section. The
division was soon referred to as “the Haber office”, and the army promoted Haber, a 46 year-old Jewish
convert to Lutheranism (it helped his career), to captain, which made him childishly proud.
His family was less impressed. Haber's personal life and relationships were chilled, especially with the
one person who might have redeemed him, his wife Clara Immerwahr. She also exuded genius, becoming
the first woman to ever earn a PH. D from the prestigious university in Breslau, Haber’s hometown.
GotoPage85inKeanforHaberdetails.
More on Fritz Haber:
Whatever Fritz Haber’s chemical brilliance, he was a flawed human being. His
wife was, as one historian puts it "never out of apron", and she once complained
to a friend that Fritz's way of putting himself first in our home and marriage is
such that a less ruthlessly assertive personality was simply destroyed. She
supported Haber by translating manuscripts into English and providing technical
support on nitrogen projects. But she refused to help in the bromine gas work.
Haber didn't mind and barely noticed. Germany had fallen behind the hated
French in chemical warfare. By early 1915 the Germans had an answer to the
French lacrimators. Perversely the Germans tested their shells on the British
Army which had no gas. Fortunately the wind dispersed the gas and the British
targets, bored out of their skulls in the nearby trench, had no idea they'd been
attacked.
The German military wanted to devote even more resources to chemical warfare
but there was a problem: the Hague pact, which political leaders didn't want to
break publicly. Germany had agreed to abstain from the use of projectiles, the
sole object of which is the diffusion of a asphyxiating or deleterious gases. So the
Germans used a legal loophole, in effect, since the pact had no jurisdiction over
shells that delivered shrapnel and gas. So that’s what they did next. It took some
cunning engineering: the sloshing bromine which evaporated into gas on impact
wreaked havoc on the shell’s trajectory but the Germans being their scientifically
adept selves, prevailed and the Germans called it a weisskreutz or “white cross”.
Again leaving the French alone, Germany swung its mobile gas units to the East
to shell the Russian army with 18,000 white cross weapons. If anything this
attempt was more of a debacle than the first. Temperatures in Russia were so
cold that the bromide solution froze solid. So Haber went to chlorine. Chlorine
turns victims’ skin yellow, green, and black. It glasses over their eyes with
cataracts. Because of Haber, the buffoonery of bromine warfare gave way to
ruthless chlorine phase of history books memorialized today. They soon came to
fear chlorine-based green cross and the nightmarish blister agent, yellow cross
otherwise known as mustard gas. Not content with scientific contributions, Haber
directed his enthusiasm with the first successful gas attack in history, which left
5000 bewildered Frenchmen burned and scarred in a muddy trench near the
Ypres river. In his spare time he also coined a grotesque biological law “Haber’s”
rule, to quantify the relationship between gas concentration and exposure time
and death rate, which must've required a depressing amount of data to produce.
Meanwhile Clara, Fritz Haber's wife was horrified by the gas project. She
confronted Fritz but he listened not at all although he wept quite un-ironically
when the colleagues died during accident at a research branch of the Haber
office. He even threw a dinner to celebrate his new weapons after the
Ypres.attack. Worse, Clara found out that he'd come home just for the night on a
stopover on his way to more direct attacks on the Eastern front and they
quarreled violently. Later that night Clara walked into the family garden with
Fritz's Army pistol and shot herself in the chest. Considering all this, it's rather
astounding that in 1919 before the dust or gas of World War I settled, Haber won
the vacant 1918 Nobel Prize in chemistry ( it was suspended during WW1). A
year later he was charged with being an international war criminal for prosecuting
a campaign of chemical warfare that maimed hundreds of thousands of people
and terrorized millions more, a contradictory almost self-canceling legacy.
But that's not the end of Fritz Haber. He then went on to try, and for six futile
years, to extract dissolved gold from the oceans so that he could pay the war
reparations that Germany had to pay back to the Allies. That sputtered out
uselessly but then he also gained attention during those years, besides trying to
sell himself as a gas warfare officer to the Soviet Union, he invented an
insecticide it was called Zyklon A before the war, and a German chemical
company tinkered with this formula after the war to produce an efficient secondgeneration of the gas. Eventually a new regime with a short memory took over
Germany and the Nazis soon exiled Haber for his Jewish roots. He died in 1934
while traveling to England to seek refuge. Meanwhile the work on the insecticide
continued and within years, the Nazis were gassing millions of Jews, including
relatives of Haber with that second-generation gas: Zyklon-B.
Third Class day: April 21, 2016
Letmebegintoday'scoverageoftheperiodictableadventureswithabitof
treacheryfromWorldWarII.Thislittletidbitcomesfromthetechnologyoflarge
armamentslikethebigBerthaweaponofWorldWarI,producedbyGermany.
Turnsoutthatmolybdenumatomsarelargerthanironatomsandtheygetexcited
moreslowlywhenheated.Theyhave60%moreelectronssotheyabsorbmoreheat
andbandtogethermoretightly.Thereforedopingsteelwithmolybdenumgumsup
theatoms,preventingthemfromslidingaround.Germanswerethefirstonesto
figurethisout,butamasterswordmakerin14thcenturyJapansprinkled
molybdenumpowderintohissteelandproducetheisland'smostcovetedsamurai
swordbladeswhichneverdulledorcracked.ButthatJapaneseVulcandiedwithhis
secretanditwaslostfor500years:Proofthatsuperiortechnologydoesnotalways
spreadandoftengoesextinct
Butthereisnotalotofmolybdenumaround,andGermanyhadnosupplyofitand
riskedrunningout.Infacttheonlyknownsupplierwasabankruptnearly
abandonedmineonBartlettMountaininColorado.BeforeWorldWarIalocalclaim
toBartlettupondiscoveringveinsofwhatlookedlikeleadortintoalocal,hadlaid
claimtoBartlettupondiscoveringveinsgraymetal.Buthefounduseless,atleast
thenuseless,molybdenum.Itcostmoretominethenitfetched,sohesoldhis
miningrightstooneOtisKing,afeisty5footbankerfromNebraska.Always
enterprising,Kingadoptedanewextractiontechniquethatnoonehadbotheredto
inventbefore,andquicklyliberated5800poundsofpuremolybdenumwhichmore
orlessruinedhim.Itexceededtheyearlyworlddemandformolybdenumby50%
whichmeantKinghadn'tjustfloodedthemarket,hedrownedit.Fewnoticedthisin
abulletinthattheUSgovernmentmentionedofKing'sattemptin1915excepta
miningcompanybasedinFrankfurtGermanywithaUSbranchinNewYork.
Accordingtoonecontemporaryaccount,Metallgesellschafthadsmelters,mines,
refineries,andothertentaclesallovertheworldandassoonasthecompany
directors(whohadclosetiestoFritzHaber)beganreadingaboutKing's
molybdenum,theymobilizedinordertakeoverthemine.Theyorderedtopmanin
ColoradoMaxSchotttoseizeBartlettMountain.Theywereverybelligerentclaim
jumpersandthreatenedthewivesandchildrenofminersanddestroyedtheir
camps,inawinterinwhichthetemperaturedroppedtonear20below.Kinghireda
limpingoutlawnamedTwo-gunAdamsforprotection,buttheGermanagentsgotto
KinganywaymuggingAdamswithknivesandpickaxesonamountainpassand
hurlingthemoffasheercliff.Onlyawell-placedsnowbanksavedhislife.The
Germansdideverythingshortofdownrightslaughtertohindertheworkofhis
company.King'sgrittyworkerstooktocallingtheunpronounceablemetalthey
riskedtheirlivestodigup“Molly-be-damned.”
KinghadadimideaofwhatMollydidinGermany,buthewasabouttheonlynonGermaninEuropeorNorthAmericawhodid.NotuntiltheBritishcapturedGerman
armsin1916andreverseengineeredthembymeltingthemdowndidtheAllies
discoverthatwondermetal,buttheshenanigansintheRockiescontinued.Schott
wasoriginallyexposedbythediscoverythatthesubsidiaryofMetallgesellschaft's
wasAmericanMetal,andclaimedthatitlegallyownedthemine,sinceOtisKinghad
soldittoSchottforapaltry$40,000.Butitjusthappenedtoshipallthat
molybdenumtoGermany.Whenthiswasdiscovered,theUSquicklyfrozethestock
ofthecompanyandtookcontrolofBartlettMountain,butitcametoolatetostop
anddisableGermany'sbigBerthaguns.TheonlyjusticewasthatSchott’scompany
wentbankruptafterthearmisticeinMarch1919whenmolybdenumprices
bottomedout.ButOtisKingreturnedtominingandbecameamillionaireby
persuadingHenryFordusemolybdenumsteelincarengines.BythetimeWorld
WarIIrolledaroundmolybdenumhadbeensupersededinproductionbyanother
elementintheperiodictable:tungsten.Andthisiswherewegetto“Uncle
Tungsten”,andsomeofthediscussionsfromOliverSacks'book.
Butletmefinishthetungstenstory,becausetheNazisplayaninterestingpartin
thisandsodoesthecountryofPortugalwhichwassupposedlyneutralbuthada
vast,probably90%ofalltheworld'stungstenreserves.Anyonewhohasseen
Casablanca(themovie)knowsthatrefugeeslongedtoescapetoLisbonfromwhich
theycouldflytoBritainandtheUnitedStatesduringtheoccupationofFranceand
NorthAfricainWW2.ButLisbonandPortugalwerehardtofigureoutatthetime.
ItwasadictatorinPortugal,AntonioSalazar,whotoleratedNazisympathizersin
hisgovernmentandprovidedahavenforaxisspies.Healsorathertwo-facedly
shippedthousandsoftonsoftungstentobothsidesduringthewarprovinghis
worthasaformerprofessorofeconomics.
Salazarleveragedhiscountriesnearmonopolyonthemetal(90%ofEurope's
supply)intoprofits1000%greaterthanpeacetime.Onemightsaythatthiswas
enormouslybeneficialwarprofiteering.Thismight'vebeendefensiblehadhelong
standingtraderelationswithGermanyandbeenworriedaboutPortugalfallinginto
wartimepoverty,butSalazarbegansellingtungstentoGermanyinappreciable
quantitiesonlyin1941,apparentlyonthetheorythathiscountry'sneutralstatus
allowedhimtogougebothsidesequally.Germanytriedtostockpiletungstenbefore
itbeganerasingtheboundariesbetweenitselfandPolandandFrance.Tungstenis
oneofthehardestmetalsknown,andaddingittosteelmadeforexcellentdrillbits
andsawheads.Plusevenmodestsizemissilestippedwithtungsten,so-called
“kineticenergypenetrators”couldtakedowntanks.Ifyoureadofftheperiodic
table,youcanseewhytungstenprovessuperiortoothersteeladditives.Itis
situatedbelowmolybdenum,ithassimilarproperties,anditdoesn'tmeltuntil
6200°F.Thistungstentradebecameoneofthegreattreachery'sofWorldWarII.
Soattractivewasthemetal’ssolidityandstrength,thattheNaziregimespentits
entiretungstenreservesby1941,atwhichpointtheFuhrerhimselfgotinvolved
andheorderedhisministerstograbasmuchtungstenasthetrainsacross
conqueredFrancecouldcarry.Distressinglyfarfromtherebeingablackmarketfor
thisgreatmetal,thewholeprocesswasentirelytransparent.Tonswereshipped
fromPortugalthroughfascistSpain,another“neutral”country,andmuchofthegold
theNazi’sstolefromtheJews,includingthegoldwrenchedoutoftheteethofthe
gassedJews,waslaunderedbybanksinLisbonandSwitzerland(stillanother
countrythattooknosides).50yearson,amajorLisbonbankstillmaintainedthat
officialshadnoideathatthe40tonsofgoldbullionsretrievedweredirtydespite
theswastikasstampedonmanybars.
Wellit'sjustanotheruglystoryfromWW2.Salazarincreasedthepriceofhis
countriesone-timecommoditymonopolyfrom$1100pertonin1940to$20,000in
1941andbanked170milliondollars.OnlyafterrunningoutofexcusesdidSalazar
instituteafulltungstenembargoagainsttheNazisonJune7,1944whichjust
happenstobethedayafterD-Day,bywhichpointtheAlliedcommandersweretoo
preoccupiedanddisgustedtopunishhim.
Intheso-called“warofWolfram”(WolframistheGermannamefortungsten)the
Portuguesedictatorhadthelastlaugh.ThereismoreinKean’sbookaboutthe
wholehorrorofharvestingthelanthanidemetalswhichwedonowuseinalotof
electronicsandcomputersandtheirtechnologies,fromtheDemocraticRepublicof
Congo.We’lltalkaboutthisifwehavetimebutit'sanotherhorrorstoryofavery
hotcommoditycausinghugeeconomicdisruptionsandgenocidesinCongoand
Rwandabetween1998and2001.
Classfour,April282016
Sincethisisaremoterealityforplanningpurposes,Iwillmostlyjustpointuptopics
we’lltrytogettofrom“TheDisappearingSpoon”book,whichistherichestofour
references.Herearesometantalizingmomentstoponder:
ElementsasMoney:goldinAustralia,Tellurium/goldconnections,andthehistory
ofmoneyandcounterfeiting.SirIsaacNewtonandmasteroftheRoyalMintand
prosecutorofcounterfeiters.
Chemicaltoxinsandbiologicaleffects:TheelementsofmadnessSelenium,
Manganeseandshark’steeth,Thalliumandspyassassinations,Ponsand
FleischmannandtheColdFusionexperience,Titaniumandrabbitbones,leadingto
theverysuccessfulhumanjointreplacementswelivewithtoday.
Tin“leprosy”andtheill-fatedpolarexploitsofRobertFalconScott.Empty
containersofkerosenecanspelltheendcominghomefromtheSouthPole.
TheamazingandquirkybrillianceandhugecontributionsofErnstRutherford.
NewZealandborn,“hick”,Cambridgeclaimed,andmentortonolessthaneleven
futureNobellaureatesinbothChemistryandPhysics.Radonwasfirstdiscovered
andtheblasphemyofalchemicaltransmutation(!)wasacommentaryofRutherford,
whichledtothediscoverythatmany“transmutationswereactuallythelossofa
heliumnucleus,(thennamedanalphaparticle,ofcourse!).Hismostfamousquote,
whichIsometimeshonorandslurmyfriendswithIs:“Inscience,thereisonly
physics.Alltherestisstampcollecting.”SomuchforthePeriodicTableIsuppose.
CambridgeseemstohavetransmutedthehickfromagriculturalNewZealandintoa
prophetofprowessforphysics.
Abriefreviewofthenatureofchemistry,physicalreality,andourperceptionof
things“elemental”.Cycles,math,andtherepeatingpropertiesoftheelements.
Theastoundingnatureofchangeand“progress“oncethemindsofthenineteenth
centuryfiguredoutthePeriodictable.Istherebetterlivingthroughchemistry?
Classevaluations,andcommentsarewelcome.
Thanksforallyourparticipationandinterest!!
RichSeifert