EPISODE PREVIEW
In this closing film, Dr. Bronowski draws together the many threads of the series, as he takes stock of humanity's complex and sometimes precarious ascent.
© 1974, British Broadcasting Company
••••••
Read this poem: When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer
••••••
Something fun that I could not work in anywhere. I hope it will interest you.
Here is a conventional periodic table of the elements*. Click to enlarge.
The periodic table
below is much more fun. That table is really a collection of riddles, in the form of
haikus (short poems) about each element. Click on the table to go to its full interactive version. Then pass your cursor over an element (no need to click), and a haiku will appear in the center of the table.
Your goal for each riddle is simply to "get" its meaning.
Example: Element #3, Li (lithium).
The haiku:
Lighter than water,
Empower my phone, my car.
Banish depression.
If you don't "get it", find the element at Wikipedia and read a few paragraphs to see if it helps.
In this case, lithium is less dense than water, so unlike by far the most metals, it would float on water, like a cork (if only it did not explode when in contact with water). Lithium is an essential ingredient in the batteries of mobile phones and electric or hybrid cars. Finally, lithium salts have been used in treating depression and other mental illnesses.
Now click anywhere on this table to go to see the haikus. A personal favorite of mine is element #77, iridium.
Thank you, Mary Soon Lee.
••••••
* OPTIONAL INFO: Each box in the conventional table contains the symbol of an element and two numbers. The integer above the symbol is the atomic number, which tells us the number of protons and electrons in an atom of the element. The non-integer number below the symbol tells us the average atomic mass (with hydrogen having a mass of about 1 unit) for this element on the earth. These numbers are not integers because a) the an atomic mass includes the neutrons, as well as protons, and electrons, and b) neutrons and protons do not have have masses of exactly 1.00 units, while electrons weigh a little bit as well.
