Summary:
In the final chapter(Yay!!) of the book, Keane mentions how rare Francium is. He talks about how if Francium is rare then looking for astatine would be more difficult. Making a joke about how Francium is common enough. Also that if you were to encounter astatine, you would die of harmful exposure.
Keane also mentions that elements 112 and 116 are calmer when in the presence of element 114. Calling it the "island of stability". He talks about the future of the periodic table. Many people believe it will end at element 137. Also that according to Einstein anything past element 137 should be physically impossible.
Reflection:
The ending was similar to the beginning. Talking about the periodic table. The book itself was good at times and just exhausting to read at others. Though overall I did enjoy my experience and I don't think I would ever read this book again because it is unnecessarily long and just frustrating to read. (:
Thursday, February 23, 2017
Chapter 18: Summary and Relfection
Summary:
Keane starts off by talking about precision and our methods of measuring. The NIST and BIPM are all the reason why we know how long a second really is. The international prototype kilogram is very important to the world of science. It is used for anything. It is a two-inch platinum cylinder. The security regarding this is very important because they do not want to loose the grooling work.
A metal rod in Paris is mentioned andos 1.00.. meters. The distance at which light travels into a vacuum is 1/299,792,458th of a second. Atomic clocks made out of cesium are talked about as well by Keane. The atomic clocks helped us move away from the use of constellations. Through an error from the atomic clock, alpha was created.
Reflection:
This chapter was an okay chapter. Though the thought of precise measurements on everything is both pleasing and frustrating. Frustrating because it just takes so much time that could be spent elsewhere. Pleasing because then everything will have an accurate length, etc.
Keane starts off by talking about precision and our methods of measuring. The NIST and BIPM are all the reason why we know how long a second really is. The international prototype kilogram is very important to the world of science. It is used for anything. It is a two-inch platinum cylinder. The security regarding this is very important because they do not want to loose the grooling work.
A metal rod in Paris is mentioned andos 1.00.. meters. The distance at which light travels into a vacuum is 1/299,792,458th of a second. Atomic clocks made out of cesium are talked about as well by Keane. The atomic clocks helped us move away from the use of constellations. Through an error from the atomic clock, alpha was created.
Reflection:
This chapter was an okay chapter. Though the thought of precise measurements on everything is both pleasing and frustrating. Frustrating because it just takes so much time that could be spent elsewhere. Pleasing because then everything will have an accurate length, etc.
Chapter 17: Summary and Reflection
Summary:
In this chapter, Keane talks about a man named Donald Glaser. Glaser took up an interest in bubbles. He created what is called the bubble chamber. He started off with beer bubbles, then when that didn't work out to well he moved onto liquid nitrogen. Donald earned a Noble prize for the bubble chamber.
Keane then moves on and talks about a man named Ernest Rutherford. Rutherford believed that he
had a simpler way to do one of Marie Curie's many experiments. He studied the gasses released by the radioactive elements that he was working with. Rutherford ended up discovering new a new element and beta particles.
Reflection:
In all honesty these chapters seem to be getting a bit boring. If i were to have to describe this to my bae i think the only thing i would talk to them about the ridiculous name for bubble chamber. It sounds too cutesy to have won a Noble Prize.
In this chapter, Keane talks about a man named Donald Glaser. Glaser took up an interest in bubbles. He created what is called the bubble chamber. He started off with beer bubbles, then when that didn't work out to well he moved onto liquid nitrogen. Donald earned a Noble prize for the bubble chamber.
Keane then moves on and talks about a man named Ernest Rutherford. Rutherford believed that he
had a simpler way to do one of Marie Curie's many experiments. He studied the gasses released by the radioactive elements that he was working with. Rutherford ended up discovering new a new element and beta particles.
Reflection:
In all honesty these chapters seem to be getting a bit boring. If i were to have to describe this to my bae i think the only thing i would talk to them about the ridiculous name for bubble chamber. It sounds too cutesy to have won a Noble Prize.
Chapter 16: Summary and reflection
Summary:
Keane talks about how pure tin tools or coins get cold and a whitish hue of rust starts to cover them like frost on a window. The rust would later corrode away/ When the tin atoms shift from their strong "beta" to the powdery "alpha" form it is known as a convenient chemical scapegoat.
Scientist tend to struggle when making a compound out of argon, since argon collapses after the compound begins to warm. It is considered one of the hardest elements that humans have forced into a compound. a durable crystal can be formed from argon at -445 degrees F axs argon fluorohydride.
Reflection:
I found this chapter interesting because I learned how elements are put into very extreme temperatures. If the author would've explained it a bit more clearly I would've written more.
Keane talks about how pure tin tools or coins get cold and a whitish hue of rust starts to cover them like frost on a window. The rust would later corrode away/ When the tin atoms shift from their strong "beta" to the powdery "alpha" form it is known as a convenient chemical scapegoat.
Scientist tend to struggle when making a compound out of argon, since argon collapses after the compound begins to warm. It is considered one of the hardest elements that humans have forced into a compound. a durable crystal can be formed from argon at -445 degrees F axs argon fluorohydride.
Reflection:
I found this chapter interesting because I learned how elements are put into very extreme temperatures. If the author would've explained it a bit more clearly I would've written more.
Chapter 15: Summary and Reflection
Summary:
William Crookes comes from a poor background. he also wrote a book about diamonds to earn money and support his family. A megalodon is a myth, but s still believed to exist in the ocean. It is a difficult thing to prove to not exist since the creature is said to live in the ocean. Pathological scientist are scientist that use their knowledge to explain a phenomenon.
A "cold fusion" is a nuclear fussion room at room temperature. A man named William Roentgen Discovered the x-ray, but his reaction to it was different from Pons and Fleischmann's reaction. Rather than jumping the gun like Pons and Fleischmann's, William retested.
Reflection:
I enjoyed this chapter because it talked about mythical creatures. Its sad to hear that William's wife thought her x-ray was a sign of death, but also sort of funny. If i were explain this to bae I'd tell them that this chapter could've been in one of those monster mystery shows.
William Crookes comes from a poor background. he also wrote a book about diamonds to earn money and support his family. A megalodon is a myth, but s still believed to exist in the ocean. It is a difficult thing to prove to not exist since the creature is said to live in the ocean. Pathological scientist are scientist that use their knowledge to explain a phenomenon.
A "cold fusion" is a nuclear fussion room at room temperature. A man named William Roentgen Discovered the x-ray, but his reaction to it was different from Pons and Fleischmann's reaction. Rather than jumping the gun like Pons and Fleischmann's, William retested.
Reflection:
I enjoyed this chapter because it talked about mythical creatures. Its sad to hear that William's wife thought her x-ray was a sign of death, but also sort of funny. If i were explain this to bae I'd tell them that this chapter could've been in one of those monster mystery shows.
Wednesday, February 22, 2017
Chapter 14: Summary and Reflection
Summary:
In this chapter, Keane starts off by saying only people with money could really do all the experiments that were to be done because being a scientist turned out to be a costly job. Keane talks about a man named Goethe, one of the most famous men in German history. Goethe had very little knowledge of the sciences, but still made very bold claims. For example his claim of the double replacement reaction. Goethe did help Johann Dobereiner jump start his career.
Lowell is mentioned in this chapter and Keane says that all of his best work came from his madness episodes. Lowell had many strange episodes that had him doing very religious things. Eventually lithium came along and became one of the first mood stabilizers.
Reflection:
This chapter showed me the scientist come from all different backgrounds. And that not all of them are completely sane, but still produce decent work. Thanks to some of the madness a mood stabilizer was invented. (:
In this chapter, Keane starts off by saying only people with money could really do all the experiments that were to be done because being a scientist turned out to be a costly job. Keane talks about a man named Goethe, one of the most famous men in German history. Goethe had very little knowledge of the sciences, but still made very bold claims. For example his claim of the double replacement reaction. Goethe did help Johann Dobereiner jump start his career.
Lowell is mentioned in this chapter and Keane says that all of his best work came from his madness episodes. Lowell had many strange episodes that had him doing very religious things. Eventually lithium came along and became one of the first mood stabilizers.
Reflection:
This chapter showed me the scientist come from all different backgrounds. And that not all of them are completely sane, but still produce decent work. Thanks to some of the madness a mood stabilizer was invented. (:
Chapter 13: Summary and Reflection
Summary:
In this chapter, Keane talks about how elements were used for money currency. Gold was the most commonly used form of currency. Today, we use paper money and coins made out of nickel. Keane talks about how gold and brass are hard to differentiate because they are both very shiny metals. They had archeologist test it and turns out the gold in Midas' touch was actually brass. He talks about the huge gold rush in Australia 1896 and how prospectors came to the area from all the attention.
After the gold rush, a want for tellurium started. They didn't give tellurium their time of day until someone realized it could be broken down into gold. Thus gave them a new shot to a new fortune. Keane also discusses our counterfeit issue and how Euros are put under a laser to determine counterfeits and authentic Euros.
Reflection:
This chapter was very interesting especially when The golden touch myth was mentioned. I was not aware that gold and brass could even be mistaken for one another. The way that counterfeit money is determined was pretty interesting as well.
In this chapter, Keane talks about how elements were used for money currency. Gold was the most commonly used form of currency. Today, we use paper money and coins made out of nickel. Keane talks about how gold and brass are hard to differentiate because they are both very shiny metals. They had archeologist test it and turns out the gold in Midas' touch was actually brass. He talks about the huge gold rush in Australia 1896 and how prospectors came to the area from all the attention.
After the gold rush, a want for tellurium started. They didn't give tellurium their time of day until someone realized it could be broken down into gold. Thus gave them a new shot to a new fortune. Keane also discusses our counterfeit issue and how Euros are put under a laser to determine counterfeits and authentic Euros.
Reflection:
This chapter was very interesting especially when The golden touch myth was mentioned. I was not aware that gold and brass could even be mistaken for one another. The way that counterfeit money is determined was pretty interesting as well.
Chapter 12: Summary and Reflection
Summary:
Marie Curie is one of the first people that Keane mentions to start off the chapter. Marie grew up with a natural knack at science. When Marie grew up, she moved to Paris and married a man named Pierre. Together they worked and were able to attain a Nobel Prize in physics. Later on in life both Marie and Pierre died. Marie from radioactivity exposure and her husband was run over by a carriage. Their daughter, Irene Joliot-Curie did work with her husband and found a way to tame radioactive elements. She later died of leukemia.
Keane continues on to talk about Hevesy, a Jewish chemist that had a peculiar way of running his experiments. Otto Hahn won a Nobel prize while Lise had the honor of an element being named after her. Keane believe there was injustice by not giving Lise the recognition she deserved for putting all the work in helping Ottoman discover element 91. Since she was a woman and it was the time of World War II they did not find it important enough to recognize her as a scientist.
Reflection:
This chapter really frustrated me when I learned that Lise was not given the recognition that she deserved. Though having an element named after is pretty nice, it's extremely upsetting to hear about a WOMAN who put that time and effort into something and did not get the award she deserved along with Ottoman.
Marie Curie is one of the first people that Keane mentions to start off the chapter. Marie grew up with a natural knack at science. When Marie grew up, she moved to Paris and married a man named Pierre. Together they worked and were able to attain a Nobel Prize in physics. Later on in life both Marie and Pierre died. Marie from radioactivity exposure and her husband was run over by a carriage. Their daughter, Irene Joliot-Curie did work with her husband and found a way to tame radioactive elements. She later died of leukemia.
Keane continues on to talk about Hevesy, a Jewish chemist that had a peculiar way of running his experiments. Otto Hahn won a Nobel prize while Lise had the honor of an element being named after her. Keane believe there was injustice by not giving Lise the recognition she deserved for putting all the work in helping Ottoman discover element 91. Since she was a woman and it was the time of World War II they did not find it important enough to recognize her as a scientist.
Reflection:
This chapter really frustrated me when I learned that Lise was not given the recognition that she deserved. Though having an element named after is pretty nice, it's extremely upsetting to hear about a WOMAN who put that time and effort into something and did not get the award she deserved along with Ottoman.
Chapter 11: Summary and Reflection
Summary:
In this chapter, Keane talks about the NASA tragedy in 1981. He mainly talks about how nitrogen is a silent, but deadly killer. Nitrogen has no scent of color so it is very hard to detect, but when inhaled will shut down your brain. Keane also explains that almost any gas, including nitrogen can trick your body into inhaling it thinking that its oxygen. Keane talks about how titanium started being used for implants rather than wood. Titanium helped was a better choice because it did not cause any infections and tende to attach very easily. It began being used rather than wood in the 1950's. Keane then moves onto the elements and taste.
He discusses how the elements can trick your taste buds into thinking that it is a sweet food that you are consuming rather than a harmful element. Keane gives the statistic of how many people in the world have what is called acute Beryllium disease which is similar to a peanut allergy. The statistic is one tenth of the human population has acute beryllium disease. He next begins to discuss Gandhi and his salt march and how iodized salt is better for you. Iodized salt is a lot better for people because iodine is only needed in small quantities The Gandhi march involved that India did not like iodized salt because they weren't too fond of Western sciences.
Reflection:
This chapter was a rollercoaster of new things that i was not aware of. Carbon monoxide is common knowledge since we have detecting alarms in our households to prevent such a thing from harming us. I found it surprising to know that common salt isn't as good for us as iodized salt and how India did not find our studies believable in a sense.
In this chapter, Keane talks about the NASA tragedy in 1981. He mainly talks about how nitrogen is a silent, but deadly killer. Nitrogen has no scent of color so it is very hard to detect, but when inhaled will shut down your brain. Keane also explains that almost any gas, including nitrogen can trick your body into inhaling it thinking that its oxygen. Keane talks about how titanium started being used for implants rather than wood. Titanium helped was a better choice because it did not cause any infections and tende to attach very easily. It began being used rather than wood in the 1950's. Keane then moves onto the elements and taste.
He discusses how the elements can trick your taste buds into thinking that it is a sweet food that you are consuming rather than a harmful element. Keane gives the statistic of how many people in the world have what is called acute Beryllium disease which is similar to a peanut allergy. The statistic is one tenth of the human population has acute beryllium disease. He next begins to discuss Gandhi and his salt march and how iodized salt is better for you. Iodized salt is a lot better for people because iodine is only needed in small quantities The Gandhi march involved that India did not like iodized salt because they weren't too fond of Western sciences.
Reflection:
This chapter was a rollercoaster of new things that i was not aware of. Carbon monoxide is common knowledge since we have detecting alarms in our households to prevent such a thing from harming us. I found it surprising to know that common salt isn't as good for us as iodized salt and how India did not find our studies believable in a sense.
Chapter 10: Summary and Reflection.
Summary:
In this chapter, Kean discusses how some elements were used as ailments. For example, the Romans supposedly enjoyed and better lifestyle because they ate their food off of a silver platters. Gadolinium and vanadium were described by their medical uses in medicines. Vanadium could be used as a spermicide and to help raise or lower glucose levels. Gadolinium helps MRI scans detect tumors in a body, it can also help attack the tumors. Pasteur came up with the idea that basically everything is left handed. Pasteur made this discovery at the age of 26 with scientific roof to back up his theory.
Gerhard Domagk is discussed by Kean and how his daughter fell down the stairs and got a bacterial infection from puncturing herself with a needle. Gerhard unknowingly discovered a cure, sadly it only helped her somewhat. Gerhard had injected his daughter with prontosil and it only helped cure her a little bit. He went to Pasteur to help get his cure patent and find out how it worked, but got denied. Only because it was the sulfonamide that did the curing. After many sulfur based medicines were being created in attempt to cure many other things.
Reflection:
I enjoyed this chapter. It talked about how these elements can als help give life. It was a nice uplift from the previous chapter. The thought of turning blue if ingesting too much silver is so bizarre to me. If I were to explain this to my bae i would try and make it sound a bit more exciting than Kean described some of the things because my bae is more of a biology kind of guy.
In this chapter, Kean discusses how some elements were used as ailments. For example, the Romans supposedly enjoyed and better lifestyle because they ate their food off of a silver platters. Gadolinium and vanadium were described by their medical uses in medicines. Vanadium could be used as a spermicide and to help raise or lower glucose levels. Gadolinium helps MRI scans detect tumors in a body, it can also help attack the tumors. Pasteur came up with the idea that basically everything is left handed. Pasteur made this discovery at the age of 26 with scientific roof to back up his theory.
Gerhard Domagk is discussed by Kean and how his daughter fell down the stairs and got a bacterial infection from puncturing herself with a needle. Gerhard unknowingly discovered a cure, sadly it only helped her somewhat. Gerhard had injected his daughter with prontosil and it only helped cure her a little bit. He went to Pasteur to help get his cure patent and find out how it worked, but got denied. Only because it was the sulfonamide that did the curing. After many sulfur based medicines were being created in attempt to cure many other things.
Reflection:
I enjoyed this chapter. It talked about how these elements can als help give life. It was a nice uplift from the previous chapter. The thought of turning blue if ingesting too much silver is so bizarre to me. If I were to explain this to my bae i would try and make it sound a bit more exciting than Kean described some of the things because my bae is more of a biology kind of guy.
Chapter 9: Summary and Reflection
Summary:
In this chapter Sam Kean discusses all the poisonous elements, "prisoner's corridor". Kean starts off by talking about how cadmium is one of the lightest elements in the "prisoner's corridor". Cadmium made the mines that the Japanese mined infamous and was the cause of the word "itai-itai!", known in Japan for suffering. The Japanese used it to help create armor for their soldiers and dumped what was left into the stream, poisoning rice plants and eventually people. It was a long time before they began to study the effects of cadmium poisoning. Cadmium is not even one of the scariest elements says kean before continuing on.
Thallium is known as one of the deadliest of all the elements. "The poisoner's poison" is how Kean describes it. A serial in the 1960's used this element to lace his family's food and drink for an experiment. His name was Graham Fredrick Young. Thallium and cadmium work so well as poisons because they both stick around in your body like oxygen and become stable, the nuclei formed never goes radioactive. Kean also talks about the element called Bismuth. Bismuth has many scientist probe into radioactive matter. A physicists in France took pure bismuth and discovered its half-life of 20 billion years. Bismuth was used as an antidote when people fell ill from cadmium tainted lemonade. Kean mentions a man named David Hahn who was arrested for having for having possession of radioactive materials in his Pontiac.
Reflection:
I think I found this chapter to be pretty depressing. Though it did a good job of giving the examples of just how harmful these elements can be. This chapter is involved with a lot f death and it is quite disheartening, yet very interesting to know how long it took to help people with cadmium poisoning and how bismuth is found in pepto bismol.
In this chapter Sam Kean discusses all the poisonous elements, "prisoner's corridor". Kean starts off by talking about how cadmium is one of the lightest elements in the "prisoner's corridor". Cadmium made the mines that the Japanese mined infamous and was the cause of the word "itai-itai!", known in Japan for suffering. The Japanese used it to help create armor for their soldiers and dumped what was left into the stream, poisoning rice plants and eventually people. It was a long time before they began to study the effects of cadmium poisoning. Cadmium is not even one of the scariest elements says kean before continuing on.
Thallium is known as one of the deadliest of all the elements. "The poisoner's poison" is how Kean describes it. A serial in the 1960's used this element to lace his family's food and drink for an experiment. His name was Graham Fredrick Young. Thallium and cadmium work so well as poisons because they both stick around in your body like oxygen and become stable, the nuclei formed never goes radioactive. Kean also talks about the element called Bismuth. Bismuth has many scientist probe into radioactive matter. A physicists in France took pure bismuth and discovered its half-life of 20 billion years. Bismuth was used as an antidote when people fell ill from cadmium tainted lemonade. Kean mentions a man named David Hahn who was arrested for having for having possession of radioactive materials in his Pontiac.
Reflection:
I think I found this chapter to be pretty depressing. Though it did a good job of giving the examples of just how harmful these elements can be. This chapter is involved with a lot f death and it is quite disheartening, yet very interesting to know how long it took to help people with cadmium poisoning and how bismuth is found in pepto bismol.
Chapter 8: Summary and Reflection
Summary:
The first 4 decades of the Nobel Prize, U.S scientist won 15 prizes and within the next 20, 42 were won. Scientist Pauling and Segré(a jew) co-discovered element 87, Francium. Pauling Applies to UC Berkeley but Lewis lost his application. Pauling and Segré made a crucial mistake in their scientific work. The name "masurium" was highly unliked and was changed to technetium, in Greek meaning "artificial", to mark the first man-made element. Two things discovered due to scientific mistakes is artificial radioactivity and fission.
If Pauling had paid attention to simple chemistry when he began his studies on the the DNA strand he would've been credited for discovering the molecular structure of DNA. Pauling believed that the DNA structure was a triple helix, but when had it checked Pauling's work was told was wrong. Pauling politely ignored the response. He wanted his to be scientific priority.
Reflection:
I enjoyed this chapter because it helps me and others who read it realize how important it is to pay attention to the minor details. It also shows how competitive the science field is when it comes to being discovered. If one were to continue in such a field it would be very difficult to be noticed and if you are close it seems to be very difficult all the well. Especially when being credited to work that YOU believe is absolutely correct.
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