As a student, Chemistry was not my favourite subject – I scored 98% in my 12th Standard exam (school leaving exam) but that was thanks to a great teacher I had, and not due to me. Even then, reading the periodic table I was amazed by its elegance and rhythm. It just felt like a divine truth and I had not thought of the history behind its invention.
Last week, The Economist had this wonderful article (just four pages) tracing the people and the journey behind Periodic Table – from “French” Antoine-Laurent de Lavoisier in 1789, “French” Louis-Joseph Proust in 1794, “English” Dalton, “Swede” Berzelius, “English” Humphry Davy, “German” Johann Dobereiner, to “Russian” Dmitri Mendeleev and so on. Take the next hour to read this article, don’t miss it.
I was also reminded of a talk a few years ago by Chennai’s own Rangarathnam Gopu, on a similar topic:
#Chemistry #Atoms #History #Economist
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