Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Summary- Chapter 6 begins with Kean explaining that, even after Mendeleev, there existed many holes in the periodic table. This was due to the fact that many elements that had existed in the newly formed Earth has since vanished due to them simply being unable to survive in nature. These elements would have to be produced artificially at some point to truly obtain a significant amount of them. Kean starts with a story, the story of Henry Moseley. Moseley was a promising student at the University of Manchester in England. He developed an electron gun that would give meaning to the atomic numbers on the periodic table and prove the existence of the atomic nucleus. Moseley would later enlist in the army during World War I and subsequently die in battle. The completion of the periodic table would come about with the discovery of element sixty-one: promethium. Researchers at the Oak Ridge Laboratory had found it by sifting through uranium ore.
      In 1932, James Chadwick discovered the neutron, a subatomic particle that adds to an atom's weight without affecting its charge. This helped define alpha and beta decay, which had previously confused scientists. The finding was later key to the development of nuclear bombs. The Manhattan project employed scientists in the creation of bombs using plutonium and uranium. They employed hundreds of women to do calculations by hand in order to find just how much uranium and plutonium they needed. A need for a quicker way to do these calculations resulted in the Monte Carlo method and the creation of computers. The early computer industry was driven to build faster and more efficient computers because of this. Such advanced during the Cold War era left the Soviet Union and the United States in a state of MAD, or mutually assured destruction.
     I like how history itself is closely tied to chemistry, and Kean uses this to his advantage to make the story of chemical advances closer to a long narrative. He employs both story and fact to weave a much more interesting reading. I also like how Kean opens up the chapters with an interesting question to ask yourself, or an interesting fact that is vital to the chapter. I do not like that there will probably be no mention of a disappearing spoon throughout this book.
     I learned that atomic number have less to do with atomic weight and more to do with each element's charge. Neutrons, whose funtion I also learned in this chapter, are the cause of this discrepancy. I also learned that chemistry is among the most profitable sciences in times of war because chemical warfare has proven more useful and deadly than many other forms of warfare. I would tell my bae that cobalt bombs are phenomenally powerful, but damage the land they are used on for a very long period of time.