6 ms·

Would Thorium be part of that list as well? Edit: I kinda know that because I have some weird passion about the elements of periodic table and because I'm read

Would Thorium be part of that list as well? Edit: I kinda know that because I have some weird passion about the elements of periodic table and because I'm reading "Periodic Tales: A Cultural History of The Elements From Arsenic To Zinc" which I really recommend!

Majestic121 4y ago
Indeed, good catch : > Thorium was discovered in 1828 by the Norwegian amateur mineralogist Morten Thrane Esmark and identified by the Swedish chemist Jöns Jacob Berzelius, who named it after Thor, the Norse god of thunder. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thorium https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thorium
- robin_reala 4y ago
  There’s also tungsten: “tung” is heavy, and “sten” stone in Swedish.
  - jeltz 4y ago
    Which interestingly is called Volfram in Swedish.
    - deleted 4y ago
      [deleted]
    - u320 4y ago
      Tungsten refers to the rock where the element is found. The english language reused the name for the actual element.
      - deleted 4y ago
        [deleted]
    - User23 4y ago
      And in English we use both Tungsten and Wolfram. The former is more popular, but the latter is still the basis of the element's symbol.
      - CydeWeys 4y ago
        I don't know anyone who refers to the element as wolfram in English. The abbreviations are internationally standardized and many don't stand for the English words anyway (Latin is quite common, e.g. Pb means plumbum, for lead).
        nostoc 4y ago
        I also don't know anyone who refers to it as wolfram, but wolfram is all over the tungsten wikipedia page.
        Maursault 4y ago
        The symbol is W, which stands for Wolfram. So everyone refers to it that way, at least initially.
        CydeWeys 4y ago
        That's gonna be people either in specialized areas, or non-native English speakers using their own words. I see British English spelling all over Wikipedia, for example, but I never see anyone in my actual life in the US use it except for one guy who is from, you can guess.
  - jagaerglad 4y ago
    There's also Gadolinium after Johan Gadolin
    - juhanima 4y ago
      But he was Finnish
      - flakeoil 4y ago
        But a Swedish speaking Finn and it seems he made his discoveries while living in Sweden. From wikipedia: "Johan Gadolin was born in Åbo (Finnish name Turku), Finland (then a part of Sweden)." [0] "In 1779 Gadolin moved to Uppsala University." Uppsala is in Sweden. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johan_Gadolin https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johan_Gadolin
        Erikun 4y ago
        Also most of todays Finland was under Swedish rule until 1809.
        mongol 4y ago
        Was any part of todays Finland not under Swedish rule 1809?
        Erikun 4y ago
        The area around Viborg was lost to the russians in 1721 and 1743. The western part of that, Lappeenranta and part of Kymenlaakso, are part of Finland today. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Finland https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Finland
        heywhatupboys 4y ago
        > But a Swedish speaking Finn this is the argument Russia has used to invade Ukraine...

Majestic121 4y ago

Indeed, good catch : > Thorium was discovered in 1828 by the Norwegian amateur mineralogist Morten Thrane Esmark and identified by the Swedish chemist Jöns Jacob Berzelius, who named it after Thor, the Norse god of thunder. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thorium https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thorium

robin_reala 4y ago
There’s also tungsten: “tung” is heavy, and “sten” stone in Swedish.
- jeltz 4y ago
  Which interestingly is called Volfram in Swedish.
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
  - u320 4y ago
    Tungsten refers to the rock where the element is found. The english language reused the name for the actual element.
    - deleted 4y ago
      [deleted]
  - User23 4y ago
    And in English we use both Tungsten and Wolfram. The former is more popular, but the latter is still the basis of the element's symbol.
    - CydeWeys 4y ago
      I don't know anyone who refers to the element as wolfram in English. The abbreviations are internationally standardized and many don't stand for the English words anyway (Latin is quite common, e.g. Pb means plumbum, for lead).
      - nostoc 4y ago
        I also don't know anyone who refers to it as wolfram, but wolfram is all over the tungsten wikipedia page.
        Maursault 4y ago
        The symbol is W, which stands for Wolfram. So everyone refers to it that way, at least initially.
        CydeWeys 4y ago
        That's gonna be people either in specialized areas, or non-native English speakers using their own words. I see British English spelling all over Wikipedia, for example, but I never see anyone in my actual life in the US use it except for one guy who is from, you can guess.
- jagaerglad 4y ago
  There's also Gadolinium after Johan Gadolin
  - juhanima 4y ago
    But he was Finnish
    - flakeoil 4y ago
      But a Swedish speaking Finn and it seems he made his discoveries while living in Sweden. From wikipedia: "Johan Gadolin was born in Åbo (Finnish name Turku), Finland (then a part of Sweden)." [0] "In 1779 Gadolin moved to Uppsala University." Uppsala is in Sweden. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johan_Gadolin https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johan_Gadolin
      - Erikun 4y ago
        Also most of todays Finland was under Swedish rule until 1809.
        mongol 4y ago
        Was any part of todays Finland not under Swedish rule 1809?
        Erikun 4y ago
        The area around Viborg was lost to the russians in 1721 and 1743. The western part of that, Lappeenranta and part of Kymenlaakso, are part of Finland today. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Finland https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Finland
      - heywhatupboys 4y ago
        > But a Swedish speaking Finn this is the argument Russia has used to invade Ukraine...