colonel@ellie.UUCP (Col. G. L. Sicherman) (04/09/86)
> > All red-blooded Americans call element no. 61 "illinium." What are you, > > some kind of Bolshevist? > > My dictionary lists promethium but not illinium. Is this for real or some > kind of joke that I don't get? It's for real--you have a COMMUNIST DICTIONARY! Here's what my desk dictionary says (Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, Fifth Edition, G. & C. Merriam Co., Springfield, 1948): il-lin'-i-um (i-lin'-i-um), n. [NL., fr. Illinois + -ium.] Chem. A rare metallic element discovered in 1926. Symbol, Il; at. no., 61. (For those of you who are confused, chemists used to get into fist fights over naming new elements, back when the periodic table was full of holes. If you learned chemistry by just taking a college course, you probably never heard of elements like illinium and aldebaranium.) "You can't vin, Bunny! Hilda ist made uf UNBELIEVIUM, der most indestructible element known to comics!" -- Col. G. L. Sicherman UU: ...{rocksvax|decvax}!sunybcs!colonel CS: colonel@buffalo-cs BI: csdsicher@sunyabva
henry@utzoo.UUCP (Henry Spencer) (04/13/86)
> (For those of you who are confused, chemists used to get into fist fights > over naming new elements, back when the periodic table was full of holes. I have news for you: they still do. There is, um, a small difference of opinion on the names for elements 104 and 105. 104 is either Hahnium or Kurchatovium; 105 is Rutherfordium or I-forget-what. As you might guess from those names, it's Western researchers vs. Soviet researchers. It's not just a dispute over timing; the argument is over whether the Soviet researchers really detected the elements in question or not. Not to mention that the jury is *still* out, to some extent, on whether tantalum is really columbium. > If you learned chemistry by just taking a college course, you probably > never heard of elements like illinium and aldebaranium.) Not to mention coronium. -- Support the International League For The Derision Henry Spencer @ U of Toronto Zoology Of User-Friendliness! {allegra,ihnp4,decvax,pyramid}!utzoo!henry
henry@utzoo.UUCP (Henry Spencer) (04/15/86)
Well, gag me with a smurf. It's been twelve years since I abandoned my
career in chemistry, and bit rot seems to have set in in my brain cells.
One of the local Rotten Young Kids ran to his reference books and has
delighted in informing me that I got some of the details wrong in my posting
about disputed element names. I'm confident that he's talking nonsense,
but my rheumatism is acting up :-) and my reference books are on a high shelf.
Foo. Back to reading comics.
--
Support the International
League For The Derision Henry Spencer @ U of Toronto Zoology
Of User-Friendliness! {allegra,ihnp4,decvax,pyramid}!utzoo!henrybright@dataioDataio.UUCP (Walter Bright) (04/15/86)
In article <943@ellie.UUCP> colonel@ellie.UUCP (Col. G. L. Sicherman) writes: >Here's what my desk dictionary says (Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, >Fifth Edition, G. & C. Merriam Co., Springfield, 1948): > >il-lin'-i-um (i-lin'-i-um), n. [NL., fr. Illinois + -ium.] Chem. A rare >metallic element discovered in 1926. Symbol, Il; at. no., 61. > >(For those of you who are confused, chemists used to get into fist fights >over naming new elements, back when the periodic table was full of holes. >If you learned chemistry by just taking a college course, you probably >never heard of elements like illinium and aldebaranium.) There are many interesting metals commonly used in engineering designs: o Balloonium - Used in aircraft design, where high strength and low weight are at a premium. o Nonobtainium - A degenerate form of metal. Widely available metals specified in all the literature frequently degenerate into nonobtainium even before the parts are fabricated. A chemical breakdown known as incompetenciosis is suspected to be a leading cause of this degeneration. o Elastium - The preferred material for helical springs. Using it, powerful springs can be designed to fit into impossibly small envelopes. Elastium holds up well under severe service conditions, and is galvanically compatible with all other metals. o Premium - The only distinguishing characteristic of this material is its high cost. Subcontractors with cost-plus contracts always use Premium. o Potmetalium - The raw material used to manufacture Premium.
pmk@prometheus.UUCP (Paul M Koloc) (04/15/86)
In article <943@ellie.UUCP> colonel@ellie.UUCP (Col. G. L. Sicherman) writes: >> > All red-blooded Americans call element no. 61 "illinium." >> My dictionary lists promethium but not illinium. > >Here's what my [old] desk dictionary says (Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, >Fifth Edition, G. & C. Merriam Co., Springfield, 1948): >il-lin'-i-um (i-lin'-i-um), n. [NL., fr. Illinois + -ium.] Chem. A rare >metallic element discovered in 1926. Symbol, Il; at. no., 61. For some reason, I kind of like the name "promethium" +---------------------------------------------------------+--------+ | Paul M. Koloc, President: (301) 445-1075 | FUSION | | Prometheus II, Ltd.; College Park, MD 20740-0222 | this | | {umcp-cs | seismo}!prometheus!pmk; pmk@prometheus.UUCP | decade | +---------------------------------------------------------+--------+
weemba@brahms.BERKELEY.EDU (Matthew P. Wiener) (04/16/86)
Follow ups to net.sci only! In article <6588@utzoo.UUCP> henry@utzoo.UUCP (Henry Spencer) writes: >I have news for you: they still do. There is, um, a small difference of >opinion on the names for elements 104 and 105. 104 is either Hahnium or >Kurchatovium; 105 is Rutherfordium or I-forget-what. 104 was named rutherfordium and 105 hahnium in the West. I'm not sure, but I have heard that neutral names have been selected for good for elements 104, 105, 106. Namely unnilquadrium, unnilpentium, and unnilhexium, with symbols Unq, Unp, and Unh. Ung. Comics? You want net.comics? Just sit ten years and no doubt you'll see Magneto's good twin sister Magneta turn evil in her search of some vial of unnilpentium, the substance left over from the explosion of the planet Unnilpent. I can't wait. ucbvax!brahms!weemba Matthew P Wiener/UCB Math Dept/Berkeley CA 94720
kwh@bentley.UUCP (KW Heuer) (04/17/86)
In article <6588@utzoo.UUCP> utzoo!henry (Henry Spencer) writes: >> (For those of you who are confused, chemists used to get into fist fights >> over naming new elements, back when the periodic table was full of holes. > >I have news for you: they still do. There is, um, a small difference of >opinion on the names for elements 104 and 105. 104 is either Hahnium or >Kurchatovium.... I thought the high-numbered elements had been standardized to "unnilquaddium", etc. Karl W. Z. Heuer (ihnp4!bentley!kwh), The Walking Lint
colonel@ellie.UUCP (Col. G. L. Sicherman) (04/18/86)
In article <6588@utzoo.UUCP>, henry@utzoo.UUCP (Henry Spencer) writes: > Not to mention that the jury is *still* out, to some extent, on whether > tantalum is really columbium. Tantalum? You mean niobium. Tantalum is named after Tantalus, the Greek god of snatching elements away from chemists. I think elements should be named after cartoon characters. Who could be offended by a name like "Mickeymousium"? "Mice are DIRTY." --from a Nazi tract -- Col. G. L. Sicherman UU: ...{rocksvax|decvax}!sunybcs!colonel CS: colonel@buffalo-cs BI: csdsicher@sunyabva