BBC | Chemistry: A Volatile History | Ep1 Discovering the Elements (6 of 6)
Aired January 21, 2010 on BBC Four (Episode 1/3) – 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. Just 92 elements made up the world, but the belief that were only four – earth, fire, air and water – persisted until the 19th Century. Professor Al-Khalili retraces the footsteps of the alchemists who first began to question the notion of the elements in their search for the secret of everlasting life. He reveals the red herrings and rivalries which dogged scientific progress, and explores how new approaches to splitting matter brought us both remarkable elements and the new science of chemistry. via www.AtheistMedia.com -
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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Awesome.
Thanks atheist media.com
@LordBifford
You do realize that many lawyers do not go to trials at all, and that those who do make it a last resort?
Don’t answer that.
Dying at age 50 in that period was considered good. Most people never made it that far.
@kissfan7 If you lack the charisma to argue in court, yes.
I loved this whole series, thanks for posting this videos, they really make you appreciate the strangeness of our fascinating natural world
Thanks for making the effort to make this information available to myself and others.
very nice documentary
thank you !!
Thanks again nice up. Can’t wait for episode 2!
Thanks a lot for posting. Very interesting.
Thanks for the upload keep em coming.
Thanks for posting this.
I’m reminded of the great quote by Richard Dawkins: “Science is interesting, and if you don’t agree you can fuck off.”
Also, I learned that the primary activity of chemists is setting things on fire. Is it too late to change my paralegal major?
Humphrey Davy was one of my youth heroes! Sodium and potassium were so fascinating. Metals lighter than water but not suitable to make boats. And they burned when in contact with water. Amazing!
great upload, thx for this
Awesome, can’t wait till episode 2!
thank you……this doc is very mind blowing
thanks for posting, I hope you will post Ep2 sometime
fantastic video. thanks for uploading
Thanks…
Very much enjoyed the whole show.
Thanks for posting it.
That was a great show!
Being a chemist myself, I must say they did an excellent job of going through all of this wonderful history. The history of chemistry is so intriguing and fantastic, and to me, the most interesting historical growth of any of the sciences.
I just wish that they could have gotten a chemist to host, instead of a physicist. Those physics guys got some crazy ideas when it comes to chemistry!
I can’t wait to see more from this series. Thank you very much AtheistMedia.
How much electricity is being produced by his saltwater? His “lamp” is only an LED. Those don’t need much current.
This whole series just amazes me, how recent (in historical terms) we came to understand things, how lucky we are to live now when just 200 years ago we knew almost nothing. (And I wonder where we’ll be in 100 more years)
Anybody else noticed that he says “created” at 2:55?
awesome!!!! thanks atheistmediadotcom and bbc. keep em coming!!!
chemistry is awesome
@evekat11: What do you mean?
WTF……….?
I’m so OVER chemistry
This documentary is awesome!!!!!!!
finally a person with interesting weather talk!
Thank you for this. I can now share these fantastic stories with my science students……Really appreciated.
wikipedia . org / wiki / Chloride
It’s an anion. I never claimed it was an element.
It’s not an element. It’s the name of an ion.
@Scoforever hahahahahahahahahahahahaha. roflmaoroflmao. so there’s an element called chloride? really? that’s new.
wonderful show thanks you
@Scoforever sodium chloride is made out of sodium and chlorine atoms. There is electron transfer when they bond (Sodium loses one electron and chlorine gains that electron) this forms the compound sodium chloride which when in solution (in water) had sodium 1+ ions and chloride 1- ions present. the chloride ion is a chlorine atom without the valence electron in its outer shell. lol
Nah, he’s right, it’s convention to call it sodium chloride.
<3 the accent :)
Sodium chloride is not made of sodium and chlorine but in fact sodium and chloride. I don’t know why they bother to have the difference but I think it is to distinguish between charged ions and neutral atoms.
Cool, thank you!!
Awesome, I love this show!
Please keep them coming as soon as they air. As a chemist I just can’t get enough of this show, and considering how I don’t live in the UK… I can’t get this show on TV.
Great stuff!