In the final chapter of his book, Kean talks about the fact that francium is very rare. The most anyone has every acquired is ten thousand atoms and it only lasted for twenty minutes. If francium is rare, then trying to find astatine is like finding a specific car in a parking garage within a hundred million parking garages and throughout all of the garages the car you are looking for is the only one there. Besides, if you did manage to find astatine, you would die because of the exposure to the strong radiation. The author also mentions what are called "magic elements" that were found by Maria Goeppert-Mayer that include elements 2, 8, 20, 28, etc. These elements are extra stable.
The author also mentions weird fact that uranium is more stable that astatine or francium although it's heavier. Kean said that the fact that element 114 is so stable that elements 112 and 116 get calmed just from being close to element 114. Scientists called this the "island of stability" and they weren't really sure why. Kean goes on to talk about the future of the periodic table. Many people think that the periodic table will end at element 137 since alpha is 1/137 and Einstein's theory of relativity says that nothing can travel faster than light, so theoretically any elements beyond 137 will be physically impossible. There is still some doubt though since alpha could be growing because of Oklo, so you never know.
This chapter was a good way to end the book because it focuses so much on the periodic table. The book in general was very good, at times confusing, but that's because I have so much to learn in my AP journey. I really enjoyed reading about the girl power throughout the book and I didn't really like the patriarchal side of science. It was especially entertaining reading about the scandals of science. I never knew that politics could influence science so much. Peace and love, peeps!
-A
Monday, February 1, 2016
Chapter 18 Summary and Reflection
Chapter 18 is called "Tools of Ridiculous Precision" and "ridiculous precision" it is. Kean starts the chapter by talking about the precision-crazy people at the NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology) and the BIPM (Bureau International des Poids et Measures). These people are responsible for knowing for long a second is, etc. Then Kean goes on to talk about the International Prototype Kilogram. This kilogram is the model for every kilogram everywhere. It's a two-inch wide 90% platinum cylinder who mass is exactly 1.00000000..... kilogram. As if that weren't crazy, that kilogram has more protection than the President of the United States (slight exaggeration). The scientists in Paris and around the world are obsessed with trying to keep the kilogram from losing a single atom, although I think that's impossible.
Kean then talks about a metal rod in Paris that measures exactly 1.0000.....meter. This distance was calculated to be the distance any light travels in a vacuum in 1/299,792,458 of a second. The author also mentions that cesium atomic clocks are the world's official measurement of time. This way of telling time replaced the centuries old way of telling time by the stars and planets. We have lost our connections to the Romans and Greeks in exchange for a more precise way of telling time. I don't know which is better. Then comes the craze of the alpha. Before the alpha equaled 1/136, but apparently that was wrong and the measurement was updated to 1/137.0359. These people are almost unhealthily obsessed with precision.
This chapter was almost as interesting as it was amusing. I found it hilarious that people had actually worked the precision of the measurements. How many hours, days, months, years of your life do you have to give up in order to be the one who can successfully say that you've measured exactly how long is a second. That idea is just crazy and mind-blowing to me and it's something I will definitely tell my friends.
Kean then talks about a metal rod in Paris that measures exactly 1.0000.....meter. This distance was calculated to be the distance any light travels in a vacuum in 1/299,792,458 of a second. The author also mentions that cesium atomic clocks are the world's official measurement of time. This way of telling time replaced the centuries old way of telling time by the stars and planets. We have lost our connections to the Romans and Greeks in exchange for a more precise way of telling time. I don't know which is better. Then comes the craze of the alpha. Before the alpha equaled 1/136, but apparently that was wrong and the measurement was updated to 1/137.0359. These people are almost unhealthily obsessed with precision.
This chapter was almost as interesting as it was amusing. I found it hilarious that people had actually worked the precision of the measurements. How many hours, days, months, years of your life do you have to give up in order to be the one who can successfully say that you've measured exactly how long is a second. That idea is just crazy and mind-blowing to me and it's something I will definitely tell my friends.
Chapter 17 Summary and Reflection
In chapter 17, Kean starts by talking about every kid's favorite thing: bubbles. Donald Glaser started thinking about particle physics of all things while drinking beer and staring at the bubbles of the beer. Glaser wanted to know more about how bubbles worked and so he started building his bubble chamber. The liquid he started with to observe bubbles was beer. When that obviously didn't work out, he moved to liquid hydrogen. Donald Glaser's bubble chamber earned him a Noble Prize at the age of thirty three.
Another scientist that Kean talks about is Ernest Rutherford. He was interested in radioactivity and how radioactive substances contaminate the air around them with more radioactivity. He knew about Marie Curie's experiment to find new radioactive elements by boiling down a bunch of pitchblende, but he decided there was an easier way to get the results he wanted. He just let nature take its course and he studied the gases released by radioactive elements. By doing so he found a new element and beta particles. While receiving his Nobel Prize in 1908, Rutherford mentioned that he found that alpha particles were escaped helium particles with an early "neon" light.
This chapter was interesting at the beginning with the bubbles and all, but overall the chapter was kind of meh. The chapter at times was very confusing like I should have some special degree to understand what I was reading. I enjoyed reading about the bubble chamber and Glaser's work, but I didn't really get what the whole point of it was. Rutherford's experiment was okay as well, but the physics sometimes made it hard to understand.
*Update: Apparently, Rutherford's theory could be used as a dating device and such to find the age of the earth. That makes a bit more sense I guess.
Another scientist that Kean talks about is Ernest Rutherford. He was interested in radioactivity and how radioactive substances contaminate the air around them with more radioactivity. He knew about Marie Curie's experiment to find new radioactive elements by boiling down a bunch of pitchblende, but he decided there was an easier way to get the results he wanted. He just let nature take its course and he studied the gases released by radioactive elements. By doing so he found a new element and beta particles. While receiving his Nobel Prize in 1908, Rutherford mentioned that he found that alpha particles were escaped helium particles with an early "neon" light.
This chapter was interesting at the beginning with the bubbles and all, but overall the chapter was kind of meh. The chapter at times was very confusing like I should have some special degree to understand what I was reading. I enjoyed reading about the bubble chamber and Glaser's work, but I didn't really get what the whole point of it was. Rutherford's experiment was okay as well, but the physics sometimes made it hard to understand.
*Update: Apparently, Rutherford's theory could be used as a dating device and such to find the age of the earth. That makes a bit more sense I guess.
Chapter 16 Summary and Reflection
In chapter 16, Kean starts by talking about the journey of Englishman Robert Falcon Scott and his five companions to the South Pole. Scott and his companions wanted to be the first people in the world to get there first, but when they arrived a Norwegian team led by Roald Amundsen had gotten there before Scott. The travelers would have been able to get back home safely had they not been marooned on the South Pole for weeks by snow flurries. To make matters worse, the tin cans that they had filled with fuel lost all of their fuel by leaking. Then the tin cans went through something called tin leprosy where the tin can rearrange itself into two different solids because of temperature. Tin has two solids; beta and alpha. Regular tin as a solid is in its beta form and when the temperature is very low, the tin rearranges itself to its alpha state and becomes a white powder. Robert Falcon Scott and his companions eventually died on the South Pole, but it didn't go unnoticed.
Kean then goes on to mention the other elements that were put through extreme temperatures in order to find a solid sample. Xenon and krypton were put to temperatures as low as -240 F. Trying to turn xenon and krypton into solids was child's play compared to trying to get a solid sample of argon. Argon eventually had to interact with fluorine and cesium iodide at -445 F degrees to get the first and only solid sample of argon. Kean also talks about how laser beams come to be and it's all thanks to elements like yttrium and neodymium. In fact, the most powerful laser has more power than the US and it uses crystals of yttrium spiked with neodymium. While lasers produce light in visible light, masers don't as they produce it in microwaves. Masers were considered something impossible before Charles Townes began working on them and his work earned him a Nobel Prize in 1964.
This chapter was interesting but confusing. The chapter wasn't really connected with the extreme low temperatures affecting elements and the new state of matter by Einstein and Bose. That was really confusing to me. Of course I'd like to learn more about this subject, but I would have preferred the author to explain the topic a bit more clearly. Learning about the lasers was very interesting because I had no idea how they worked. I always assumed that the bulbs inside of the lasers contained neon and that's what made the beam shine so I enjoyed finding about the real truth when it comes to lasers.
Kean then goes on to mention the other elements that were put through extreme temperatures in order to find a solid sample. Xenon and krypton were put to temperatures as low as -240 F. Trying to turn xenon and krypton into solids was child's play compared to trying to get a solid sample of argon. Argon eventually had to interact with fluorine and cesium iodide at -445 F degrees to get the first and only solid sample of argon. Kean also talks about how laser beams come to be and it's all thanks to elements like yttrium and neodymium. In fact, the most powerful laser has more power than the US and it uses crystals of yttrium spiked with neodymium. While lasers produce light in visible light, masers don't as they produce it in microwaves. Masers were considered something impossible before Charles Townes began working on them and his work earned him a Nobel Prize in 1964.
This chapter was interesting but confusing. The chapter wasn't really connected with the extreme low temperatures affecting elements and the new state of matter by Einstein and Bose. That was really confusing to me. Of course I'd like to learn more about this subject, but I would have preferred the author to explain the topic a bit more clearly. Learning about the lasers was very interesting because I had no idea how they worked. I always assumed that the bulbs inside of the lasers contained neon and that's what made the beam shine so I enjoyed finding about the real truth when it comes to lasers.
Chapter 15 Summary and Reflection
In chapter 15, Kean introduces pathological science into the mix. He starts by talking about William Crookes. Crookes lost his brother Philip at sea and his life changed after that. Crookes and his family were delirious with grief. They turned to spiritualism to express their grief. The family began attending séances en masse. At first, Crookes didn't attend, but when he attended one night, his life took a turn. Crookes became a frequent attendee of the séances in order to try and communicate with his brother. His professional life took a hit when he published "Notes of an Enquiry into the Phenomena Called Spiritual" in 1874. People who he worked with thought he was crazy, but the pathological science had come in place by then. Crookes's emotions and feelings had come to affect his work and influenced his research on spiritualism. Crookes eventually left the spiritualism circles and went back to science and focused on other topics.
Another topic deriving from pathological science was that of cold fusion. According to the author B. Stanley Pons and Martin Fleischmann were supposed to be the next Watson and Crick, but that didn't happen. Cold fusion was supposed to be the new source of energy that was efficient and without any emissions. Pons and Fleischmann discovered this new power source and ran many of the same experiments to confirm their results. Each of their tests didn't have the same results and even though they knew this, both men called for a press conference to release their new discovery. Cold fusion caught very big attention as it could mean a very big change for the sources of power. Cold fusion turned out to be a fraud and the names Pons and Fleischmann now bring attention to the failure of cold fusion.
This chapter introduced to a broader version of pathological science. I always thought that anything considered pathological science wasn't a real science. In a way it kind of is, but reading about people like Crookes, Pons, and Fleischmann helped me realize that there is some truth to pathological science and that emotions tend to rule over the hard science. It would have been cool if cold fusion had worked out, for there wouldn't be so much emissions that come from coal power sources. All in all, this chapter was an interesting read although it was sometimes confusing.
Another topic deriving from pathological science was that of cold fusion. According to the author B. Stanley Pons and Martin Fleischmann were supposed to be the next Watson and Crick, but that didn't happen. Cold fusion was supposed to be the new source of energy that was efficient and without any emissions. Pons and Fleischmann discovered this new power source and ran many of the same experiments to confirm their results. Each of their tests didn't have the same results and even though they knew this, both men called for a press conference to release their new discovery. Cold fusion caught very big attention as it could mean a very big change for the sources of power. Cold fusion turned out to be a fraud and the names Pons and Fleischmann now bring attention to the failure of cold fusion.
This chapter introduced to a broader version of pathological science. I always thought that anything considered pathological science wasn't a real science. In a way it kind of is, but reading about people like Crookes, Pons, and Fleischmann helped me realize that there is some truth to pathological science and that emotions tend to rule over the hard science. It would have been cool if cold fusion had worked out, for there wouldn't be so much emissions that come from coal power sources. All in all, this chapter was an interesting read although it was sometimes confusing.
Sunday, January 31, 2016
Chapter 14 Summary and Reflection
In chapter 14, Kean talks about how money and science come together. As science became more and more expensive, the people who could actually do the mind blowing discoveries were the people who had the money to do it. The author then turns to Johann Wolfgang von Goethe who was a writer that enjoyed making bold claims about science and politics even though he wasn't adept in either subjects. One major bold claim Goethe made was that of double replacement reactions. Goethe described the reactions like two marriages with the laws of attraction. The whole thing would work by having each person falling in love with another person in the other marriage. Although Goethe made absurd claims, he did help launch the career of another Johann, that is Johann Dobrereiner.
The last person mentioned in the chapter is Robert Lowell. Mentally, Lowell wasn't all there. Even though he suffered through episodes of madness, his best work came from them. Although people enjoyed the work of Lowell, the madness that ran in his head spilled onto his life. One episode had him stuttering in front of a friend's house that he was the Virgin Mary. Another episode had him trying to stop cars by spreading his arms like Jesus. Nothing was available back then to help with this madness until lithium came along. Lithium became the first mood stabilizer and Lowell agreed to be medicated. Lithium prevents the next episode from happening and it regulates the proteins that makes this happen. Even though lithium helped Lowell, his work changed and people noticed.
This chapter showed me the different faces of science. You think that people know what they talk about, but reading about Goethe reminds me of the way some politicians deceive people. I say deceive because Goethe published his ideas and influenced people, in a way he kind of deceived them. Reading about Lowell made me sad because he suffered through the thoughts in his mind and people enjoyed reading about it. Once he was well, people didn't enjoy his work anymore because he had changed.
The last person mentioned in the chapter is Robert Lowell. Mentally, Lowell wasn't all there. Even though he suffered through episodes of madness, his best work came from them. Although people enjoyed the work of Lowell, the madness that ran in his head spilled onto his life. One episode had him stuttering in front of a friend's house that he was the Virgin Mary. Another episode had him trying to stop cars by spreading his arms like Jesus. Nothing was available back then to help with this madness until lithium came along. Lithium became the first mood stabilizer and Lowell agreed to be medicated. Lithium prevents the next episode from happening and it regulates the proteins that makes this happen. Even though lithium helped Lowell, his work changed and people noticed.
This chapter showed me the different faces of science. You think that people know what they talk about, but reading about Goethe reminds me of the way some politicians deceive people. I say deceive because Goethe published his ideas and influenced people, in a way he kind of deceived them. Reading about Lowell made me sad because he suffered through the thoughts in his mind and people enjoyed reading about it. Once he was well, people didn't enjoy his work anymore because he had changed.
Chapter 13 Summary and Reflection
In chapter 13, Kean talks about the elements being used as currency. Today, we use paper money being made out of cotton and coins made out of zinc, copper, and nickel, but back then people used metals like gold and silver as currency. Kean talks about the story of King Midas and his "golden touch". The myth although sometimes hard to believe could have been close to the truth, but except for a small detail. Perhaps what was considered gold was actually brass. Gold and brass look pretty similar as they are very shiny metals. Archaeologists tested this theory by comparing gold and brass together and the geographic location of King Mida's kingdom can support this theory. His kingdom was very close to mines where zinc was abundant and brass could have been made and passed for gold when combining zinc and copper.
The author also mentions the craze that gold rushes bring. He mentions the humongous gold rush in the Australian outback in 1896 that started with three Irishmen whose horse lost a shoe and while walking, the horse had unknowingly collected eight pounds of gold. From there on, many prospectors came to the area to try their luck at fortune by gold. While they searched day and night, many were fooled by the always common fool's gold or iron pyrite that mimics gold in its color and shine but it's actually pretty worthless. After the initial craze, another one started by another element, tellurium. Chunks of tellurium were found where gold was found and the searchers, desperate for gold, threw the tellurium aside. Then someone realized that the tellurium could be broken down to find gold and a new craze followed. People were going through chunks of tellurium that were once considered refuse and now offered a new shot at fortune. Kean also mentions today's problem with counterfeit money and the efforts done by the European Union to find the fake money. The element europium is the hero in the mission to find counterfeit money along with fluorescence. Europium and fluorescing dye are combined to be used on the euros. By seeing the euro with the naked eye, the euro appears to be a certain color, but when put under a special laser, a charcoal sketch of Europe appears to show an authentic euro. The author also mentions aluminum, or aluminium if you're fancy, to be a very important element. This silver metal was once more valuable than gold until it began to be used for industrial purposes as a less pure alloy. It was so valuable that the pyramid onto of the Washington Monument is made out of pure aluminum.
This chapter opened my eyes to different ways of seeing the elements. I grew up fascinated with King Midas and his "golden touch". As a small child, nothing excites you more than something shiny and the "golden touch" made my imagination fly. Although King Midas did lose his daughter when he accidentally touched her as she turned to gold, the story always made me wonder if there was a source of truth to the myth. Reading about the research done made me realize that something that once seemed so fascinating could have been something so simple. One new thing I learned was that aluminum was once very valuable. This element is used in our everyday lives and learning this new information was a learning experience.
The author also mentions the craze that gold rushes bring. He mentions the humongous gold rush in the Australian outback in 1896 that started with three Irishmen whose horse lost a shoe and while walking, the horse had unknowingly collected eight pounds of gold. From there on, many prospectors came to the area to try their luck at fortune by gold. While they searched day and night, many were fooled by the always common fool's gold or iron pyrite that mimics gold in its color and shine but it's actually pretty worthless. After the initial craze, another one started by another element, tellurium. Chunks of tellurium were found where gold was found and the searchers, desperate for gold, threw the tellurium aside. Then someone realized that the tellurium could be broken down to find gold and a new craze followed. People were going through chunks of tellurium that were once considered refuse and now offered a new shot at fortune. Kean also mentions today's problem with counterfeit money and the efforts done by the European Union to find the fake money. The element europium is the hero in the mission to find counterfeit money along with fluorescence. Europium and fluorescing dye are combined to be used on the euros. By seeing the euro with the naked eye, the euro appears to be a certain color, but when put under a special laser, a charcoal sketch of Europe appears to show an authentic euro. The author also mentions aluminum, or aluminium if you're fancy, to be a very important element. This silver metal was once more valuable than gold until it began to be used for industrial purposes as a less pure alloy. It was so valuable that the pyramid onto of the Washington Monument is made out of pure aluminum.
This chapter opened my eyes to different ways of seeing the elements. I grew up fascinated with King Midas and his "golden touch". As a small child, nothing excites you more than something shiny and the "golden touch" made my imagination fly. Although King Midas did lose his daughter when he accidentally touched her as she turned to gold, the story always made me wonder if there was a source of truth to the myth. Reading about the research done made me realize that something that once seemed so fascinating could have been something so simple. One new thing I learned was that aluminum was once very valuable. This element is used in our everyday lives and learning this new information was a learning experience.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)