Chapter 8

The Disappearing Spoon Chapter 8

Summary

    In chapter 8, it talked about the discoveries that occurred to find various new elements from different scientist around the world. Or create a new element such as Technetium which was man-made by a piece equipment called the atom smasher. Then there was the Segre and Pauling who were not friends but communicated in order to relate on scientific research. 

     Furthermore, the chapter mentions how women played a big part in discovering Fission. In addition to Pauling, he was seen as a brilliant chemist but lacked in some aspects which was his arrogance which caused him errors that humiliated him and his work. Watson and Crick were the two responsible for this matter and although having errors themselves by Pauling's papers, they proved to be more efficient in finding more accurate results that did not include errors. 

Reflection

    What I liked about the chapter is that it explains the creation of the atom smasher which uses other elements to create a new isotope. The only thing I disliked is when people saw Watson and Crick more famous than Pauling because he Pauling has done more work and by himself. Then there is the discovery of Fission that I thought was interesting to know that women discovered it.  

Guideline Questions

1. It was named technetium, Greek for “artificial.” And it was the first man-made element. 

2. one scientific discovery is in the early 1990s, Pfizer was testing out a drug called UK92480, intended to treat patients with angina, a common precursor to heart attacks, involving the constriction of blood vessels that supply the heart. The company was hoping the drug would relax the blood vessels. It failed in that regard, but test subjects reported some fascinating developments below the belt, and so became the little blue pill known as Viagra. The second scientific discovery is the microwave oven in 1945, when a Raytheon engineer named Percy Spencer was fiddling with energy sources for radar equipment. Then, he realized that the chocolate bar in his pants was melting.

3. Linus Pauling isn't as famous as Watson and Crick because he was ignorant, which caused him mistakes, and stubborn. As a result, he was publicly humiliated for his triple helixes and inverted phosphorus. 

4. One interesting fact is that Hennig Brand, a German, discovered phosphorus quite by accident in 1669 while processing urine in search of a compound that would turn ordinary metals into gold. Another interesting fact is that phosphorus or more specific, Red phosphorus is far more stable at room temperature — it's found on the side of any box of safety matches. The friction of the match against the red phosphorous transforms a little bit of the red phosphorus into white phosphorus, providing the ignition needed to light the match.