We all know the saying, “Don’t judge a book by it’s cover.” Similarly, every element in the periodic table has its’ own story and its’ own unique meaning. However, the average high schooler simply associates these elements as something used in their chemistry classes. In fact, the elements seen on the periodic table actually have much more to do in our daily lives and in history than most people know. While giving a whole new perspective to the meaning of Chemistry, author Sam Kean successfully recounts the hidden tales through humor and wit in his bestselling novel The Disappearing Spoon: And Other True Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the World from the Periodic Table of Elements. Specifically, Chapter 15, “An Element of Madness,” addresses the lives of several “mad scientists” associated with selenium, manganese, palladium, barium, and roentgenium that ultimately led to their downfall. So what makes a scientist “mad”? Kean typifies the mad scientist as one who possesses both qualities of supreme intelligence and undoubtedly, lunatic characteristics. The author first describes the life of William Crookes, a successful author and part an exclusive club of elite scientists. A combination of selenium experimentation and the tragic death of his brother, he conclusively reached his point of madness. Furthermore, Kean ties in manganese to the story through the findings of the shark teeth at the bottom of the ocean. Scientists discovered that manganese covered the surface of the large teeth; and people connected this to the craze of the megalodons. The author also recaps the scandal of Pons and Fleischmann, who claimed to create cold fusion using palladium, a powerful element that is able to consume immense amounts of hydr... ... middle of paper ... ...was really thought-provoking and insightful while being entertaining at the same time. This novel definitely changes the way I view these elements and provides some background information about these elements that affected the lives of many scientists. Personally, I really enjoyed reading this chapter as I got to read about a mad scientist in a real world sense. Even for someone who does not particularly enjoy nonfiction novels especially on chemistry, I thought it was quite enjoyable to read. The Disappearing Spoon: And Other True Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the World from the Periodic Table of Elements is surely a novel that a high school student even with minimal background in Chemistry to read. This is certainly a book that will advance your knowledge on Chemistry by providing a quirky and satisfying experience through various tales and examples.
I plan to educate those who read this paper on what they might not know of a few of our elements. I will tell you what I have learned over the oxygen group on the elemental table. I will talk about Oxygen, Sulfur, Selenium, Tellurium, and last but not least Polonium. These elements have changed our way of life and history in ways you might not know. We are surrounded by these elements in our daily life and they make us the way we are. I hope to teach you and answer some questions about these elements in this informant paper.
Every minute and day our world in radical changes to see new things on the way of discoveries of to makes the life easy. It is true to focus on today science the way of the real-life more sophisticated by each element of the periodic table the open secret. We incredible material variety, as we know everything the stare, the planet, and life itself. According to the PBS NOVA I was watching the amazing documentary film that is written, produced and directed by Chris Schmidt, but presented by the host David Pogue. David say’s a lot of things on his almost two hours (1:53) film about the “Hunting the Elements.” With the main points or concepts like the elements, compounds, atoms, periodic table, noble gases,
The novel The Disappearing Spoon was written by Sam Kean, Sam is an American author, professor, and philosopher who is best known for his exploration of questions regarding love, life, religion, and being a man in contemporary society.In his book, he talks about the history, madness and love of the periodic table and their elements. The chapter that I am going to be reviewing today is chapter 12 of his novel. This particular chapter talks about political elements and about how the elements on the periodic table embody our frustrations and flaws in economics, psychology, arts and politics.
archetypal outcast, the mad scientist represents all that modern culture holds mysterious and fascinating, intriguing and sinful, and, to say the least, romantic. Popular culture has completely desensitized the blasphemous, heretical, epileptic shocks of
The story’s tone is one of romantic controversy, a dilemma at a high level of existence. The scientist’s love for his craft competes very intensively with his newfound love for his wife. It is also very psychological, strictly dealing with the raw mind of its subjects as if the ominous narrator told the story from inside their mind, rather than observe it from the outside. He describes the processes that one may take to reach a certain degree of knowledge and to find the elixir of life, which is described in this story as the ultimate goal of the scientific community. Also, the narrator is very opinionated about events in the story.
Every element is valuable and unique due to the endless arrangements of sub-atomic particles, which fascinates me. This allows for a diversity of elemental properties, sparking innovation for chemists to develop new products from different tasting chocolates to materials used for rockets- shaping society and the environment of the modern world. The sheer range of applications where chemistry is involved inspires me to contribute, while learning, unlocking why everything behaves the way it does.
Mary Shelley's character Victor Frankenstein, appearing in her 1818 Frankenstein; or The Modern Prometheus, became the archetype for the popular figure of the 'mad scientist.' The mad scientist has perhaps become such an enduring part of the cultural landscape because of lingering fears about the dark side of scientific discovery. In today's climate of rapid technological progress, people often wonder about the unforeseen consequences of the latest discoveries and inventions. Shelley's Frankenstein reads not only as a reflection on the dangers of modern science, but also as an exploration of the unconstrained scientific mind.
The Disappearing Spoon: And Other True Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the World from the Periodic Table of the Elements, a national bestseller by Sam Kean, breaks down the periodic table and explains chemistry, an often exasperating subject, in a funny and comprehensible way. Kean, who has been featured in numerous science journals and the New York Times Magazine, demonstrates how chemistry is applied in the real world by giving amusing anecdotes rather than the generic and boring applications, such as how Billy and Pablo used chemistry to make a baking soda and vinegar volcano for their fourth grade science fair, that textbooks typically provide. Each chapter explores different elements on the periodic table; the tenth chapter, “Take Two Elements, Call Me in the Morning,” discusses the positive and negatives effects of the applications of certain elements as medicines.
In conclusion, the book, That’s the Way the Cookie Crumbles: 62 All New Commentaries on the Fascinating Chemistry of Everyday Life, is written to make chemistry more meaningful and popular using situations that most people go through in their lifetime. Reading this book will help you realize that there is more to chemistry than one will actually know. Dr. Joe Schwarcz gives thousands and thousands of information about the mysteries of mercury in your teeth, walking on burning coals, bug juice in ice cream, egg yolk in ice cream, beagles, soap, beer bottles, bananas and much more. He does this to present the significance of science and to clear up any misconceptions that anyone may have. But you will not learn every single thing in chemistry through this book and why it occurs that way because sometimes that is just the way the cookie crumbles!
What the periodic table tells us? Why its discovery had taken up more than 50 years? Why is Mendeleev considered to be the ‘father’ of the Periodic Table? The periodic table is one of the most noticeable icons in chemistry. This table shows the organization of the elements in horizontal rows, called periods, and in vertical columns, called groups. It is an arrangement according to the increase of their atomic number in each element, which is equal with the number of the protons in the nucleus, and also based on similar chemical behavior and physical characteristics. Although more than 80 scientists tried to organize the elements systematically, the Russian professor of chemistry, Dmitri Ivanovich Mendeleev was the first person who successfully
Everyone in my grade despised that class, it was hard, it was tedious… but I loved it! It opened my eyes, and allowed me to see the world from a different perspective. Everywhere you look, there it was, chemistry. The periodic table was the one that winked my eye at first. It is only a table to gather and organize information, yes! But for me, it is the work of multiple great minds, their legacy for the humanity. The periodic table is a graphic metaphor for perfection. Everything is in it’s right place, and it all has a function. All about the periodic table gives me hope in a way that nobody else can understand. It is a weird way to relate life and chemistry, but thanks to that peculiarity; it helped me make the grown up decision of my life,
In 1789, French chemist Antoine-Laurent de Lavoisier (1743-93) separated 33 substances he considered elements -including light (now know not to exist as an element) and a liquid called ‘Caloric’ (now known not to exist) (Chemical Heritage Foundation, n.d.)- into metals, non-metals and ‘earths’ (Linstead, 2012, p. 115-116).
Today the Periodic table is used all around the world as a reference in chemistry. It arranges all of the known elements in a special way which help us in many ways in chemistry. This essay will be about the history of the development of the periodic table and how and where it affects us today today to help scientific research.
The Periodic Table of Elements is commonly used today when studying elements. This table’s history begins in ancient times when Greek scientists first started discovering different elements. Over the years, many different forms of the periodic table have been made which set the basis for the modern table we use today. This table includes over 100 elements and are arranged by groups and periods. Groups being vertical columns and periods being horizontal columns. With all of the research conducted over the years and the organization of this table, it is easy to use when needed.
The periodic table was the most important development in the field of chemistry and is the most important chemistry reference there is. The periodic table played a crucial part in the development in the field of chemistry as it allowed for a way of organising the elements so that it was possible to make predictions about both their chemical and physical properties based on the elements’ position in the table. The periodic table is grouped into many different divisions: Groups, Periods, Blocks, Metals, Metalloids and Non- Metals. It also allowed for many periodic trends to be identified. Because of the development of the periodic table, we are able to identify the electron