Germany – The Episodic Table of Elements

drawing of the landscape of thorns

93. Neptunium: Great Expectations

August 22, 2024

6:00 am

6 Comments on 93. Neptunium: Great Expectations

Astronomy, Benito Mussolini, Berkeley Edwin McMillan, Bruno Pontecorvo, Clemens Winkler, Coal Power, Deep Time, Dmitri Mendeleev, Edoardo Amaldi, Emilio Segre, Energy, Enrico Fermi, Ettore Majorana, Etymology, Fascism, Finland, Fission, Franco Rasetti, Fritz Strassman, Germany, Hans Rudolph Hermann, Ida Tacke, Indigenous Americans, Isotopes, Italy, Japan, Lise Meitner, Nazis, Nevada, Nobel Prizes, Nuclear Power, Nuclear Weapons, Orso Mario Corbino, Otto Frisch, Otto Hahn, Philip H. Abelson, Radioactivity, Sweden, Synthetic Elements, Tennessee, Tsunamis, United States, Walter Noddack, Women In Science, World War II

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

To the person who said, “the episodes are never too long,” I’m terribly sorry.

Continue reading “93. Neptunium: Great Expectations” →

92. Uranium: Two Untold Tales (Live At Harvard)

May 29, 2023

6:00 am

19 Comments on 92. Uranium: Two Untold Tales (Live At Harvard)

Alsos, Belgium, Church Rock, Congo, Edwin Kemble, Espionage, France, Frédéric Joliot-Curie, George Kistiakowsky, Georgius Agricola, Germany, Harvard, Indigenous Americans, Italy, Leslie Groves, Mining, Moe Berg, Navajo Nation, Nazis, Nobel Prizes, Nuclear Accidents, Nuclear Power, Nuclear Weapons, Otto Hahn, Paracelsus, Radioactivity, Samuel Goudsmit, Shinkolobwe, The Manhattan Project, Three Mile Island, United States, Werner Heisenberg, World War II

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

America’s worst radioactive accident isn’t Three Mile Island, and the Nazi nuclear physicist wasn’t assassinated by the famous baseball player.

Continue reading “92. Uranium: Two Untold Tales (Live At Harvard)” →

43. Technetium: Naturally Synthetic

August 12, 2019

6:00 am

1 Comment on 43. Technetium: Naturally Synthetic

Carlo Perrier, Dmitri Mendeleev, Emilio Segre, Ernest Lawrence, Etymology, Fission, Gabon, Germany, Ida Tacke, Italy, Medicine, Nuclear Power, Oklo, Otto Berg, Particle Accelerators, Synthetic Elements, Walter Noddack

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

It’s only after we gave up searching for this element that we found it out in the universe.

Continue reading “43. Technetium: Naturally Synthetic” →

42. Molybdenum: Conventional Weapons

July 29, 2019

6:00 am

2 Comments on 42. Molybdenum: Conventional Weapons

Carl Wilhelm Scheele, Constantinople, Fortifications, France, Germany, Gunpowder, Japan, Mehmed II, Middle Ages, Mining, Turkey, Weaponry, World War I

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Before we talk about one big gun, let’s discuss 1,500 years of military technology.

Continue reading “42. Molybdenum: Conventional Weapons” →