Question

Tutorial: History and Evolution of the Periodic Table of Elements

Answer 1

You're going to write one? That will be fun. I hope you mention Sir William Ramsay and the discovery of Group 8A, the tragic story of Henry Moseley, the ridiculous number of elements named from their original location in Ytterby, the amusing and smelly way Hennig Brand made the first modern discovery of an element (phosphorus in 1669), the interesting relationship between early Enlightenment German miners seeking copper and silver and the names of nickel and cobalt, or the fact that the discovery of fermium was classified Top Secret until the end of the Second World War. An amazing amount of history in there, as well as science...

Answer 2

Absolutely, but I'm starting with the 7 ancient metals and moving forward from there

Answer 3

Very nice. I hope you have space to mention the weird alchemical belief that those 7 metals were "ripened" out of Earth by "rays" from the 7 heavenly bodies known to the ancients. What I think this kind of thing demonstrates is that new knowledge never expands into a vacuum -- it is always necessary to tear down old wrong ideas in order to put new correct (we hope) ideas in their place. I think students often forget that, and consequently overlook the importance in their own learning of "unlearning" mistaken theories about why things happen. I look forward to reading your tutorial!

Answer 4

This is going to end up reading more like a small book, but I figure I'd reserve the space and make myself finish it