Chemistry
- Here, a fictive dispute between Democritus and Plato shall represent the counterpart images in the antiquities on the composition of matter. It is remarkable, that Democritus, whose idea on the subject would be far more acceptable after modern standards, could not outmatch his counterpart Plato. It was not until around 1800, when his model and the idea of smallest undividable pieces was rediscovered.
Democritus and the Atoms - By systematic use of highly sensitive scales, Lavoisier developed his keystone assertion, that mass in chemical reactions is unchanged.
Lavoisier and the conservation of mass - Looking at the results of his chemical experiments, John Dalton notices that he has produced both, answers and (new) questions. He wonders, whether there is something like a superior principle...
Dalton and the Atoms - The sheer multitude of chemical elements is very challenging to chemists in the 19th century. They ask themselves, whether there are still yet undiscovered new elements. A Russian solves part of the mystery with an interesting approach.
Dimitris Periodentraum - Meet Marie Curie on her way from a promising student, who was born and raised in difficult times, to one of the most renowned female natural scientists in the 20th century. Learn especially her lifetime achievement, i.e. to verify the existence of yet unknown radioactive elements.
Discoverer of two radioactive elements: Marie Skłodowska-Curie - What would be a suitable model to describe the likeness of an atom? Rutherford's experimental findings were in contradiction to the theories represented by his PhD thesis advisor J.J.Thompson. Sitting over Christmas dinner 1911 he has an idea...
Ernest’s Nuclear Atom - Irene Joliot-Curie and her husband Frederic missed at least twice the chance to report a new discovery, which, when reported by their adversaries, won those a Nobel Prize. In 1935, their accurate observation skills finally earned them a Nobel Prize of their own, when they presented how man was able to generate new radioactive elements.
Joliot-Curie and artificial radioactivity