Jons Jacob Berzelius – The Episodic Table of Elements

94. Plutonium: Weapons-Grade

March 3, 2025

6:00 am

8 Comments on 94. Plutonium: Weapons-Grade

Astronomy, Glenn T. Seaborg, Harry Daghlian, Harry Truman, Japan, Jons Jacob Berzelius, Los Alamos, Louis Slotin, Mythology, Nuclear Accidents, Nuclear Power, Nuclear Weapons, Radioactivity, Russia, The Demon Core, The Manhattan Project, United States, World War II

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Element 94 causes a bit of a crisis for our collections.

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The exterior of Primo Autobody Repair shop.

90. Thorium: Bright Lights, Big City

February 22, 2022

8:30 am

19 Comments on 90. Thorium: Bright Lights, Big City

Alsos, Alvin Weinberg, Auergesellschaft, Candoluminescence, Carl Auer von Welsbach, Illumination, India, Jons Jacob Berzelius, Leslie Groves, Mythology, Nazis, New York City, Nuclear Power, Nuclear Weapons, Oak Ridge National Labs, Radioactivity, The Manhattan Project

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Sure, thorium could provide practically limitless clean energy, but then we couldn’t build weapons of mass destruction.

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65. Terbium: The Joy of Tedium

July 27, 2020

6:00 am

2 Comments on 65. Terbium: The Joy of Tedium

Acids & Bases, Acoustics, Alloys, Carl Gustaf Mosander, Jons Jacob Berzelius, Magnetism, Mineralogy, X-rays, Ytterby

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For more than one reason, element 65 makes the short list of “most annoying elements.”

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51. Antimony: Can You Return An Inheritance?

December 16, 2019

6:00 am

10 Comments on 51. Antimony: Can You Return An Inheritance?

Alchemy, Basilius Valentinus, China, Dioscorides, Egypt, Etymology, Jons Jacob Berzelius, Medicine, Mozart, Murder, Numismatics, Paracelsus, Pliny the Elder, Poisons, William J. Robinson

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It’s like an Everlasting Gobstopper, but Willy Wonka is a fratricidal German monk.

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