Remembering Dmitri Mendeleev

One of my ongoing goals has been to read through the entire periodic table, one element a day. If you know me, you're likely scratching your head, wondering why I'd take an interest in chemistry. I don't know. I just realized toward the ending of May that I have a deficiency and wanted to correct it. I can do anything, after all, including read short blurbs about things I should have learned in the 11th grade (and likely did but forgot).

Click here to find the table I've been reading.

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I started this one element a (week)day thing in June beginning with Hydrogen and moving horizontally through the periods, and I'm only doing weekdays because I don't usually journal on the weekends. Come Monday, the next element is Calcium.

And I considered keeping notes on what I read or trying to commit their atomic symbols to memory, but that just seemed like work. Too much work, really, and not a lot of fun. The idea wasn't to become an expert in the elements, just familiar with them. So, I just read. I read about the element's uses and properties and its history, which, as far as I'm concerned, is plenty. For example, at the beginning of the table, near Berylium and Boron, Charlie and I were watching the HBO mini-series, Chernobyl. Imagine my excitement at the overlap! Practical application of knowledge learned!

But knowledge for knowledge's sake is fun, too. Did you know that 5% of the US's production of electricity goes toward the manufacture of aluminum? According to the Royal Society of Chemistry, anyway. I also wowed Charlie (with information he already knows) when we stood under the Hawaii Theatre's marquee and I said, "Only the red lights are actually neon, you know." And so what if he already knew that? So what? I didn't know that before a few days ago, and I feel pretty proud of myself for knowing it now.

Dmitri Mendeleev