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Introduction

Kean was fascinated with mercury as a child. He had a habit of talking with his mouth full, which led to him swallowing the mercury thermometer and breaking it on the floor, releasing its liquid contents. His mother sometimes let him play with the little balls of mercury that medieval alchemists believed were “the most potent and poetic substance in the universe” because they are an element. In contrast to other substances like air and water, mercury is an element.

Kean learns about mercury in the 18th century. Doctors prescribed it for almost every illness, but many people died from that treatment because they were poisoned by mercury. However, archeologists can find campsites of settlers by searching for mercury deposits. Kean also learns about mercury in science class but is unable to identify it on the periodic table because its name comes from Latin and means “water silver.”

The author, Sam Kean, is fascinated with mercury. His interest in the element leads him to learn about its history and how it has shaped our world. He goes back as far as ancient times when people believed that there was a god named Mercury who controlled all things involving commerce and travel. Kean’s fascination with mercury takes him through fields such as etymology (the study of word origins), alchemy (a medieval form of chemistry), mythology (stories from Greek and Roman gods), literature (poetry, plays, novels) poison forensics (how poisons affect human beings), psychology (the mental state of humans). In college he majors in physics but he always enjoys scientific narrative more than conducting experiments in a lab. He becomes fixated on the stories about the elements in the periodic table because at first glance they are simply an account of all kinds of matter that exist in the universe. The shape grouping different kinds together tells us where they come from while information within them tells us how stable or unstable they are and their behavior towards other elements. When we look closely at these stories we see that they are also human artifacts for every single one is surrounded by humanity even if we don’t notice it until someone points it out to us.

Chapter 1: Geography is Destiny

The periodic table is a chart that shows the elements and their characteristics. It looks like a castle with each brick being an element. There are currently 112 known elements, plus some unconfirmed ones. Every element is necessary for the whole chart to work properly.

75% of the elements in the periodic table are metals. The others are gases and two liquids, mercury and bromine. Some elements have very interesting properties because they fall between metals and gases on the periodic table. For instance, column 18 contains noble gases which would be preferred by Plato (if he knew what elements were). Plato believed that there was a separate realm for ideal forms such as trees, fish, or cups to exist in.

In 1911, a Dutch-German scientist discovered that below -425ºF, helium becomes an ideal conductor for electricity. In 1937, a team of Russian and Canadian scientists performed a similar experiment and found that at -456ºF, helium achieves “perfect fluidness.” Plato could never have dreamed of this property because it’s such an ideal state. Scientists didn’t understand the concept of elements until the beginning of the 19th century when they realized elements were indivisible building blocks.

The reason why elements react the way they do is because of electrons, which are negative particles that are contained inside an atom. Atoms exist on different energy levels based on how many electrons they have. They also have positive particles called protons. When electrons are passed between atoms, the atoms become charged and are called ions. Atoms need to achieve the right level of electrons; some will exchange electrons with other atoms “diplomatically,” whereas others will be more aggressive in their pursuit for a balanced number of charges (or chemical reactions). Helium only has two electrons and so it only ever exists at one level, like all other gases. Like all other gases, helium atoms don’t react with others under normal circumstances because they don’t need to (they’re already balanced). However, under extreme conditions or unusual situations when an imbalance occurs, helium can react aggressively with another element.