4 ms·

Picture This: The Periodic Table

111 points by laurex 4y ago

thriftwy 4y ago
> A Siberian by birth, with Rasputin-like dishevelled hair and an irascible manner Most of Mendeleev's photos are of his old age, but he actually discovered the periodic table in his 40s, I believe.
Pulcinella 4y ago
If you can find a copy I highly recommend Graphical Representations of the Periodic System During 100 Years by Edward G. Mazurs. The latest edition is from 1974 (which unfortunately means it is just misses including the J.F. Hyde table from 1975). There is also the Internet Database of Periodic Tables (https://www.meta-synthesis.com/webbook/35_pt/pt_database.php?yearfield=2010 https://www.meta-synthesis.com/webbook/35_pt/pt_database.php...). I’m not sure there really is any new insight to be gained from new arrangements of the elements, but I do feel like this work has stagnated in recent years. Even the cheapest smart phones have more graphical processing power than anything from 10-20 years ago. I would like to see more 3D arrangements (including “regular” 3D, VR/AR, and physical 3D models). As a former Chemistry teacher, I would also love to see a “build your own” periodic table (maybe some way of coding whatever rules/constraints you think the arrangement should take and the elements are laid out accordingly, rather than directly placing each element). I think it’s important for students to realize that at one point these were original ideas that people had to think of and popularize and that new ideas are also possible. The current table is not just some ancient truth handed down since time immemorial. Though the table reflects the laws of nature, it is the product of human creation (e.g. the common form of the table with the lanthanides and actinides placed below the rest of the table is purely for practical reasons. Otherwise the table is far too wide to print and read easily).
- bluenose69 4y ago
  > I think it’s important for students to realize that at one point these were original ideas that people had to think of This part of your informative comment indicates to me that you were a great teacher. This sort of thing doesn't occur to many students, and so they find it difficult to connect with material. If they can visualize somebody else doing such work, they may be able to visualize themselves doing it, too. And that's the first step. Even if they don't go into science, though, they will gain an appreciation for what it is.
  - Pulcinella 4y ago
    Thank you for your kind words! :)
- WillAdams 4y ago
  I've always thought it was quite unfortunate that some really arcane presentation of the periodic table wasn't used in H. Beam Piper's novella "Omnilingual": https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/19445/pg19445-images.html https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/19445/pg19445-images.ht...
- neerajk 4y ago
  In a similar vein also recommend “Mendeleyev's Dream: The Quest for the Elements” by Paul Strathern.
hcrisp 4y ago
I recently ran across Benfey's alternate periodic table (1964) which is similar but more complete: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternative_periodic_tables https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternative_periodic_tables
- 082349872349872 4y ago
  Thanks, that led me to Giguère's https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4233444/figure/F2/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4233444/figure/... which, being orbital based, I guess counts as a physicists' table. For sheer exuberance, how about the Railsback table? http://railsback.org/PT/815PeriodicTable48e02.pdf http://railsback.org/PT/815PeriodicTable48e02.pdf
- zksmk 4y ago
  I love Benfey's table. I find it the most intuitive to interpret at a glance at what's actually going on with the electrons and the filing of the orbitals (in the version where they're marked) around the nucleus. Might be just taste, but it's my fave.
einpoklum 4y ago
So, what's so special about Silicon (Si) which puts in the middle of the 8-shaped figure at the top of the story? Also, why does Carbon seem to protrude from the spiral towards Silicon?
- jtbayly 4y ago
  My questions exactly. Also, why the faint lines from silicon running to lots of other elements?
  - bronson 4y ago
    It was created by an organosilicon chemist. It sounds like this rendering was meant to illustrate silicon instead of being purely general purpose: https://corporate.dow.com/en-us/about/company/history/james-franklin-silicone-inventor.html https://corporate.dow.com/en-us/about/company/history/james-...
    - 082349872349872 4y ago
      That suggests the modern equivalent would be one where the spiral animates, as the reader picks their "focus" element...
ryandrake 4y ago
Great visualization. I’ve always found it very unsatisfying to depict the lanthanides and actinides as just nebulously floating out there like Alaska and Hawaii on terrible maps of the US. Those elements are part of chemistry/physics too, and they have periodic properties. Finally a practical visual that promotes them to full citizens!
rahimnathwani 4y ago
I'd like to put a poster of the periodical table on my kid's bedroom wall. What's the best representation for a 6 year old?
- Maursault 4y ago
  https://tinyurl.com/2joerjno https://tinyurl.com/2joerjno
- Maursault 4y ago
  Even better.[1] [1] https://tinyurl.com/2k7ce6ha https://tinyurl.com/2k7ce6ha
dmix 4y ago
Nerds love nothing more than organizing and categorizing information in increasingly (yet slightly) better ways. The never ending effort to perfect the periodic table is a great testament to that.
helloworld11 4y ago
This is so very much worth reading given the context. https://englishatlc.files.wordpress.com/2016/03/randall-munroe-periodic-wall-of-elements.pdf https://englishatlc.files.wordpress.com/2016/03/randall-munr...
stareatgoats 4y ago
This is great. I'm bookmarking this article as an example of our neverending quest to classify and organize. And how the notion that there is a single, canonical right way to do it is a powerful motivator, where the holy grail is to lay bare a hidden structure that might (for example) be used as a predictor. There is a caveat here though: when such a structure is found we tend to think that we have discovered everything, and forget that there are still many ways to look at things, organizing principles that may explain other things. We often think: "there can only be one", in my experience.

111 points by laurex 4y ago

> A Siberian by birth, with Rasputin-like dishevelled hair and an irascible manner Most of Mendeleev's photos are of his old age, but he actually discovered the periodic table in his 40s, I believe.

Pulcinella 4y ago

If you can find a copy I highly recommend Graphical Representations of the Periodic System During 100 Years by Edward G. Mazurs. The latest edition is from 1974 (which unfortunately means it is just misses including the J.F. Hyde table from 1975). There is also the Internet Database of Periodic Tables (https://www.meta-synthesis.com/webbook/35_pt/pt_database.php?yearfield=2010 https://www.meta-synthesis.com/webbook/35_pt/pt_database.php...). I’m not sure there really is any new insight to be gained from new arrangements of the elements, but I do feel like this work has stagnated in recent years. Even the cheapest smart phones have more graphical processing power than anything from 10-20 years ago. I would like to see more 3D arrangements (including “regular” 3D, VR/AR, and physical 3D models). As a former Chemistry teacher, I would also love to see a “build your own” periodic table (maybe some way of coding whatever rules/constraints you think the arrangement should take and the elements are laid out accordingly, rather than directly placing each element). I think it’s important for students to realize that at one point these were original ideas that people had to think of and popularize and that new ideas are also possible. The current table is not just some ancient truth handed down since time immemorial. Though the table reflects the laws of nature, it is the product of human creation (e.g. the common form of the table with the lanthanides and actinides placed below the rest of the table is purely for practical reasons. Otherwise the table is far too wide to print and read easily).

bluenose69 4y ago
> I think it’s important for students to realize that at one point these were original ideas that people had to think of This part of your informative comment indicates to me that you were a great teacher. This sort of thing doesn't occur to many students, and so they find it difficult to connect with material. If they can visualize somebody else doing such work, they may be able to visualize themselves doing it, too. And that's the first step. Even if they don't go into science, though, they will gain an appreciation for what it is.
- Pulcinella 4y ago
  Thank you for your kind words! :)
WillAdams 4y ago
I've always thought it was quite unfortunate that some really arcane presentation of the periodic table wasn't used in H. Beam Piper's novella "Omnilingual": https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/19445/pg19445-images.html https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/19445/pg19445-images.ht...
neerajk 4y ago
In a similar vein also recommend “Mendeleyev's Dream: The Quest for the Elements” by Paul Strathern.

hcrisp 4y ago

I recently ran across Benfey's alternate periodic table (1964) which is similar but more complete: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternative_periodic_tables https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternative_periodic_tables

082349872349872 4y ago
Thanks, that led me to Giguère's https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4233444/figure/F2/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4233444/figure/... which, being orbital based, I guess counts as a physicists' table. For sheer exuberance, how about the Railsback table? http://railsback.org/PT/815PeriodicTable48e02.pdf http://railsback.org/PT/815PeriodicTable48e02.pdf
zksmk 4y ago
I love Benfey's table. I find it the most intuitive to interpret at a glance at what's actually going on with the electrons and the filing of the orbitals (in the version where they're marked) around the nucleus. Might be just taste, but it's my fave.

einpoklum 4y ago

So, what's so special about Silicon (Si) which puts in the middle of the 8-shaped figure at the top of the story? Also, why does Carbon seem to protrude from the spiral towards Silicon?

jtbayly 4y ago
My questions exactly. Also, why the faint lines from silicon running to lots of other elements?
- bronson 4y ago
  It was created by an organosilicon chemist. It sounds like this rendering was meant to illustrate silicon instead of being purely general purpose: https://corporate.dow.com/en-us/about/company/history/james-franklin-silicone-inventor.html https://corporate.dow.com/en-us/about/company/history/james-...
  - 082349872349872 4y ago
    That suggests the modern equivalent would be one where the spiral animates, as the reader picks their "focus" element...

ryandrake 4y ago

Great visualization. I’ve always found it very unsatisfying to depict the lanthanides and actinides as just nebulously floating out there like Alaska and Hawaii on terrible maps of the US. Those elements are part of chemistry/physics too, and they have periodic properties. Finally a practical visual that promotes them to full citizens!

rahimnathwani 4y ago

I'd like to put a poster of the periodical table on my kid's bedroom wall. What's the best representation for a 6 year old?

Maursault 4y ago
https://tinyurl.com/2joerjno https://tinyurl.com/2joerjno
Maursault 4y ago
Even better.[1] [1] https://tinyurl.com/2k7ce6ha https://tinyurl.com/2k7ce6ha

dmix 4y ago

Nerds love nothing more than organizing and categorizing information in increasingly (yet slightly) better ways. The never ending effort to perfect the periodic table is a great testament to that.

helloworld11 4y ago

This is so very much worth reading given the context. https://englishatlc.files.wordpress.com/2016/03/randall-munroe-periodic-wall-of-elements.pdf https://englishatlc.files.wordpress.com/2016/03/randall-munr...

stareatgoats 4y ago

This is great. I'm bookmarking this article as an example of our neverending quest to classify and organize. And how the notion that there is a single, canonical right way to do it is a powerful motivator, where the holy grail is to lay bare a hidden structure that might (for example) be used as a predictor. There is a caveat here though: when such a structure is found we tend to think that we have discovered everything, and forget that there are still many ways to look at things, organizing principles that may explain other things. We often think: "there can only be one", in my experience.