History – Page 2

Hey, it is the Periodic Table’s Birthday!

Dmitri Mendeleev sketched his first draft of the Periodic Table of Chemical Elements on February 17, 1869.

Notice that this year’s a “big one” for the Periodic Table — it’s 150 years old!

In fact, it’s such a big deal that the United Nations General Assembly and UNESCO have gone so far as to declare this the International Year of the Periodic Table (2019 IYPT).

Of course, unless you’re a chemist by trade, it’s fairly unlikely that you’ve heard about this.

That’s a shame, too — who knows where we would all be without the handy dandy thing.

So celebrate!

Here are some suggestions for how to do it…

First off, rather than sing Happy Birthday, you could try to sing Tom Lehrer’s The Elements.

Here’s a link to a video of Daniel Radcliffe pulling it off in about a minute.

Daniel Radcliffe sings “The Elements” (The Graham Norton Show, YouTube)

In case you’re not familiar with Tom Lehrer’s music, here’s a link where you can learn more about the awesome guy.

Tom Lehrer at 90: a life of scientific satire (Andrew Robinson, Nature)

I also found a video where someone created an animation to go with Tom Lehrer’s version

Timwi Terby (YouTube Channel)

Here’s different fun one you could try to sing.

Partha Pratim Manna

Lest you believe that caring about such things is for boring old, incredibly geeky grown-ups, here’s a link to a segment from The Ellen Show where a 3-year old shows she knows her stuff.

Adorable 3-Year-Old Periodic Table Expert Brielle (The Ellen Show)

Slightly older children might enjoy a tradition of reading Harry Helium and the Noble Gases Party (Good Reads).

For the more intellectually minded, you could hold a discussion about the alternative life stories of the Periodic Table.

Here are some resources to get your started.

The periodic tables we almost had (Mark Lorch, Quartz)
Alternate Periodic Table Designs (Western Oregon University)
The Internet Database of Periodic Tables (The Chemogenesis Web Book)

Finally, if you do want to throw a party, Etsy’s got you covered.

Periodic Table Party (Etsy)

Here are more resources to help you celebrate…

The International Year of the Periodic Table (2019 IYPT)

An unelementary affair: 150 years of the periodic table (Robert P Crease, Physics World)
How the Periodic Table Went from a Sketch to an Enduring Masterpiece (Tom Siegfried, Science News)

Setting the Table (Phillip Szuromi, Science Magazine)
Ordering the Elements (Michael D. Gordin, Science Magazine)

The Periodic Table of Elements in Pictures and Words (Keith Enevoldsen, Elements.wlonk.com)
This Awesome Periodic Table Tells You How to Actually Use All Those Elements (BEC CREW, Science Alert)