BBC | Chemistry: A Volatile History | Ep 2 The Order of the Elements (6 of 6)
Aired January 28, 2010 on BBC Four (Episode 2/3) – Play all videos: bit.ly – The explosive story of chemistry is the story of the building blocks that make up our entire world – the elements. From fiery phosphorous to the pure untarnished lustre of gold and the dazzle of violent, violet potassium, everything is made of elements – the earth we walk on, the air we breathe, even us. Yet for centuries this world was largely unknown, and completely misunderstood. In this three-part series, professor of theoretical physics Jim Al-Khalili traces the extraordinary story of how the elements were discovered and mapped. He follows in the footsteps of the pioneers who cracked their secrets and created a new science, propelling us into the modern age. In part two, Professor Al-Khalili looks at the 19th century chemists who struggled to impose an order on the apparently random world of the elements. From working out how many there were to discovering their unique relationships with each other, the early scientists’ bid to decode the hidden order of the elements was driven by false starts and bitter disputes. But ultimately the quest would lead to one of chemistry’s most beautiful intellectual creations – the periodic table. via www.AtheistMedia.com -
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@myrmecophilous
People want to learn, there is no doubt about it. As long as you put things in layman terms and explain them with visible obvious experiments, people will understand and enjoy. Sadly American scientific shows do not take there audience seriously. They narrate their shows both with a voice and a theme of a an action movie trailer. Almost any scientific show on the history channel is a great example of this.
nobody makes documentaries like the BBC – perhaps if they didn’t waste millions of pounds sending soccer “experts” on salaried holidays to Africa (first class travel, 5 star hotels, haute cuisine etc) they could afford to make some more
This series is breathtaking with some of the facts i didn’t have any idea about.
@myrmecophilous check out The Secret Life of Chaos, with Prof. Jim Al-Khalili
Wonderful. When watching this I thought of how exciting a time it must of been to live through….scientifically speaking, the 19th and 20th century I mean….but then again with the LHC and such it looks like we could be luckier than the lot….something exceptional’s gonna happen soon I think! =]
when will you post episode 3… i missed it on iplayer… :/
You beat me to it. This is why we have so many bad decisions in the US because so many of us are pig-ignorant.
I love the BBC. Too bad american television is such mindless shit.
Thank you for this, there is nothing as inspiring as knowing the origins of our technology, and wondering what else is there to discover yet.
thanks for posting this series,this is awesome, can’t wait for the next episode!
thanks for posting the latest.
The absolute pinnacle of scientific tv documentaries.
His animation of the nucleus looks like the animations from Cassiopeia project.
This is an wonderful series, looking forward to last episode.