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Kekule who dreamt of 6 serpents each eating others tail and discovered the hexavalent structure, meanwhile cries in a corner. No mention of Kekule in the articl

Kekule who dreamt of 6 serpents each eating others tail and discovered the hexavalent structure, meanwhile cries in a corner. No mention of Kekule in the article.

carbocation 1y ago
This does seem like an important omission.
JKCalhoun 1y ago
Agree: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/August_Kekulé#Kekulé's_dream https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/August_Kekulé#Kekulé's_dream (I had the impression from somewhere else that his "reverie or day-dream" might have instead been a pipe dream — as in the literal pipe dream (opium?). But I can now find nothing to substantiate this at all so, maybe just ignore.) EDIT: perhaps I was reading too much into this page from the Golden Book of Chemistry: https://www.slideshare.net/slideshow/the-golden-book-of-chemistry-experiments/3491280#81 https://www.slideshare.net/slideshow/the-golden-book-of-chem...
FlyingSnake 1y ago
Omitting such an important story from the article feels sloppy. For me, no other story from Chemistry is as fascinating as Kekule dreaming up Benzene’s molecular structure. An important reminder to me about the power of narrative and storytelling.
epiccoleman 1y ago
For a tangent on Kekule, I really enjoyed Cormac McCarthy's essay The Kekule Problem - published in 2017 and apparently his first published work of non-fiction.
- jihadjihad 1y ago
  Link to essay: https://nautil.us/the-kekul-problem-236574/ https://nautil.us/the-kekul-problem-236574/
  - twojacobtwo 1y ago
    For members only, apparently.
    - aspenmayer 1y ago
      https://archive.is/hNCkx https://archive.is/hNCkx
meepmorp 1y ago
Yeah, and it's especially sad because they specifically mention that the structure was worked out later in the 19th century. Why not include a fun little detail like that? The answer is probably because the author hasn't taken organic chem and so never heard the story.
gavinray 1y ago
I immediately "Ctrl+F" for "Kekule" and saw nothing on the page. Disappointing. When I read a "History of Organic Chemistry" textbook, Kekule and Benzene were essentially the springboard.
jd3 1y ago
Was going to make the same comment. https://i.imgur.com/EGyYmkX.jpg https://i.imgur.com/EGyYmkX.jpg https://www.nytimes.com/1988/08/16/science/the-benzene-ring-dream-analysis.html https://www.nytimes.com/1988/08/16/science/the-benzene-ring-...
deleted 1y ago
[deleted]
hydrogen7800 1y ago
Having only taken high school and one semester of undergrad 100-level chemistry, I know 2 things about Benzene: It's very dangerous stuff, and some guy had a dream about its ring-shaped structure. Also, I know that what the anglosphere calls "gas", "gasoline" or "petrol", some other European languages call "benzine". Benzene and petrol are both hydrocarbons, but other than that similarity I don't know why that name would be used. I saw somewhere that it is actually "Benz-ine", as in Karl Benz.. but that sounds dubious.

Kekule who dreamt of 6 serpents each eating others tail and discovered the hexavalent structure, meanwhile cries in a corner. No mention of Kekule in the article.

carbocation 1y ago

This does seem like an important omission.

JKCalhoun 1y ago

Agree: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/August_Kekulé#Kekulé's_dream https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/August_Kekulé#Kekulé's_dream (I had the impression from somewhere else that his "reverie or day-dream" might have instead been a pipe dream — as in the literal pipe dream (opium?). But I can now find nothing to substantiate this at all so, maybe just ignore.) EDIT: perhaps I was reading too much into this page from the Golden Book of Chemistry: https://www.slideshare.net/slideshow/the-golden-book-of-chemistry-experiments/3491280#81 https://www.slideshare.net/slideshow/the-golden-book-of-chem...

FlyingSnake 1y ago

Omitting such an important story from the article feels sloppy. For me, no other story from Chemistry is as fascinating as Kekule dreaming up Benzene’s molecular structure. An important reminder to me about the power of narrative and storytelling.

epiccoleman 1y ago

For a tangent on Kekule, I really enjoyed Cormac McCarthy's essay The Kekule Problem - published in 2017 and apparently his first published work of non-fiction.

jihadjihad 1y ago
Link to essay: https://nautil.us/the-kekul-problem-236574/ https://nautil.us/the-kekul-problem-236574/
- twojacobtwo 1y ago
  For members only, apparently.
  - aspenmayer 1y ago
    https://archive.is/hNCkx https://archive.is/hNCkx

meepmorp 1y ago

Yeah, and it's especially sad because they specifically mention that the structure was worked out later in the 19th century. Why not include a fun little detail like that? The answer is probably because the author hasn't taken organic chem and so never heard the story.

gavinray 1y ago

I immediately "Ctrl+F" for "Kekule" and saw nothing on the page. Disappointing. When I read a "History of Organic Chemistry" textbook, Kekule and Benzene were essentially the springboard.

jd3 1y ago

Was going to make the same comment. https://i.imgur.com/EGyYmkX.jpg https://i.imgur.com/EGyYmkX.jpg https://www.nytimes.com/1988/08/16/science/the-benzene-ring-dream-analysis.html https://www.nytimes.com/1988/08/16/science/the-benzene-ring-...

deleted 1y ago

[deleted]

hydrogen7800 1y ago

Having only taken high school and one semester of undergrad 100-level chemistry, I know 2 things about Benzene: It's very dangerous stuff, and some guy had a dream about its ring-shaped structure. Also, I know that what the anglosphere calls "gas", "gasoline" or "petrol", some other European languages call "benzine". Benzene and petrol are both hydrocarbons, but other than that similarity I don't know why that name would be used. I saw somewhere that it is actually "Benz-ine", as in Karl Benz.. but that sounds dubious.