THE LAST CHAPTER... GRACIAS A DIOS

Chapter 19

Summary:

          The most rare element is astatine. This interests me because I never knew that. Quite frankly, I have never even heard of the element; I must not pay attention enough to the periodic table. Next on the rarity list is francium which is interesting because someone who speaks french is also rare due to France being on the other side of the planet. Kean then puts out a mind boggling hypothesis about how scientists not knowing to what limits the periodic table has. This book was very interesting and I would recommend it to anyone looking to read up om the history of the fascinating science that is chemistry. 

Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Summary:

          Chapter 18 starts off talking about different bureaus, the NIST and the BIPM, which try making precise measurements for the rest of the world to follow. This always interests me because when we talk about distance, Unites Statesicans say miles, but everyone else says kilometers. We should unify the earth and have one system. The kilogram seems common when watching an Australian baking show, but when I make a cake I never see the word in the instructions. Time is measured through rocks with the amount of cesium which is apparently the most precise way to measure time in general. Kean goes on to talk about a fission reactor in Africa which is also the only reactor that exists. Research done with this reactor shows that the big bang theory is impossible. This led australian scientists to come up with the idea of black holes. Black holes always seem to amaze me due to the shear fact that we know nothing for absolute. 

Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Summary:

          In chapter 17, Kean is all things bubble. Bubbles play a huge part in history for the elements. Kean starts the chapter off with the story of Donald Glaser who, started the idea of using bubbles for experiments. Glaser was a partial creator in the "Bubble Chamber." Kean then goes on to talk about Rutherford and how became famous due to his studies with radioactivity. He, with the help of Soddy, was able to prove that elements can mutate into other elements. This news helped the discovery of uranium decay. We are able to tell the date of the earth by looking at the amount of uranium in rocks. 

Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Summary:

          In chapter 16, Kean starts off with a story of englishmen who wanted to be 90 degrees below the equator. Its humorous due to the fact that in reality a group of Norwegians had already done that. This story moves on to kerosene lamps that failed the group leaving them without a heat source. This chapter was a lot of experiments such as scientist dropping temperatures to about -445 degrees Fahrenheit and mixing noble gases like xenon, argon, and krypton. These experiments were very hard to keep up with, but they were very intriguing. This chapter moved on to lasers and masers where I then became completely lost. I was so confused by this point but you know, AP chemistry is life.  

Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Summary:

          Kean starts off the chapter with a 'mad' scientist. It wasn't proven that William Crookes was actually mad, but his drawing to ghost's made it seem so. The death of his brother seemed to be the dawning of his 'ghost' era, but nothing is for certain. After the era of his 'madness' Crookes moved on to working with selenium and radioactivity. Further, Kean goes on to talk about shark teeth covered in manganese found at the bottom of the ocean then leading to talk about the megladon. The megladon is an undiscovered creature believed to be the hugest shark in existence. If such a shark exists, the why haven't we had actual proof? After all this fishy talk, scientists Pons and Fleischmann were explained to have discovered palladium in which it soaks up hydrogen. This discovery led to new energy without being tested.

Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Summary:

          Chapter 14 really bothers me. In addition to so many immigrants being deported, Kean led us on to believe science was only to be studied by the wealthy. I live in a middle class home and to hear that science is for the wealthy makes my blood boil. This chapter is more about Keans life. He talks about a writer his professor recommended. Geothe wrote stories about elements which makes me laugh because when i think stories i think kindergarten. The Parker 51 pen amazed everyone but what amazed me was Mark Twains literature pertaining science. I was surprised that i never knew of Twain's scientific history. 

Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Summary:

          This chapter starts off with Midas, a prince whose reign was filled with gold and bronze. Even now, a diamond engagement ring is 'more special' than a gold one. The people of 3000 BC were told to not be able to tell the difference between gold and bronze and other metals with zinc in them. This caused the idea of counterfeit to arise. Counterfeit is a huge problem in the world of today because people create fake identities to become citizens to the US but also, money is counterfeited making undeserving people rich. Gold rushes are apparently not just Californian history; Australia had a gold rush where gold was able to be picked up off the ground. The use of paper money began in China and this just amazes me. European notes are so hard to counterfeit whereas counterfeit american money isn't uncommon. Last, Kean goes to explain aluminum and how it was valued more than gold. A scientist found out how to extract pure aluminum which caused the market to crash. 

Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Summary:

          Kean starts off the chapter talking about Marie Curie. Marie discovered a way that eased the discovery of elements on the periodic table. Marie discovered 2 elements in her uranium waste which is just funny to me because 1 mans trash is literally another mans treasure. Her element was controversial due to the name she wanted to give it. Polania, tribute to Poland, which, for some reason, didn't sit so well with the Chemistry committee. Hevesy is explained through his discovery of radium-D. His career was in quantum mechanics and hafnium. Furthermore, Kean tells us about brevium being renamed proactinium due to it actually lasting for thousands of years. This chapter fills the audience up with political ideas and it amazes me that politics is always a problem in the world. 

Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Summary:

          

          Chapter 11 starts off dark by giving a story of a group of astronauts grounding whom were gassed to death by nitrogen. Although painless, the astronauts lost their lives despite being so close to getting home. Kean moves on to the discovery of titanium which is linked to prosthetic limbs. Fake limbs can be someone's dignity; a fake leg can keep someone from losing their dignity. Taste is one of humans six senses, but elements like beryllium can change how something tastes to you. This just amazes me because this can be dangerous to some level. If beryllium is leaked into the water, some country can make populations dwindle. After scaring us with the loss of taste, Kean moves into iodine. Iodine helps lower the rate of birth defects. Many countries began to sell iodized salt to keep give populations small dosage's and it seems to be working. 

Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Summary:

          Chapter 10 was interesting due to its dive into living and away from death which was what chapter 9 was all about. The first medicinal element touched upon was silver. Its importance was its anti-bacterial properties. Pioneers used silver to keep milk from spoiling. Kean goes further on to explain that silver and copper are both used in pipes vital for cities to battle diseases. With no indoor plumbing, disease swam through cities with ease. Gadolinium was then explained to have massive importance in MRI's and probably part of the cure to cancer. William Knowles used rhodium to wake up people from a mysterious medical paralysis that no one had an explanation to. The world of science is basically always at the hands of the elements and the possibilities are always in the stars.

Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Summary:

          Kean starts off the chapter with cadmium which was deadly to a population of Japan. A mining company leaked a deadly amount of cadmium into the water supply and Japan's people had an actual taste of it. The cadmium caused pain, liver failure, and weakness of the bones. "Poisoners corridor" was explained to be thallium, lead, and polonium. Further, A Japanese scientist, Hagino, argued that the cadmium had been soaked up by rice farms giving credit to the mining company. The chapter moves on to the next deadly element, thallium, and how its terrible death toll was high and painful. But, Kean does go off on how bismuth, an element thought to me poisonous, was actually not poisonous being found in pepto bismol. To end the chapter, Kean lives the life of, David Hahn, a teenager in love with chemistry. He was playing around with a nuclear reactor when he got caught and thrown in jail. He was never allowed near a reactor for the rest of his life. 

Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Summary:

In chapter 8, Kean decides to fill the chapter with the race to fill in the periodic table like in previous chapters. Kean goes into history about element 43: technetium. Being "discovered" by several German chemists, this element was known as "the loch ness monster" due it not being actually discovered until 1937. It's discoverer's being two Italians, Emilio Segre and Linus Pauling. Pauling was also in the science of biology where he denied the wrong of his "triple-helix" dna strands. Instead of striving to find discoveries, the scientists in this chapter just wanted credit.