The Disappearing Spoon: Chapter 3 Summary and Reflection

This chapter starts out by talking about the element Arsenic and  it's discoverer Robert Bunsen. The author also talks about how Robert improved and popularized the design of the Bunsen burner and how he was also the creator of the spectroscope. It was discussed how Dmitri Mendeleev was the creator of the first periodic table of elements and thought out an idea of how to classify elements into small sets and then developed a system of scientific law. Mendeleev's rival, Julius Lothar Meyer figured out that red blood cells transported oxygen by binding it to hemoglobin and also had his own periodic table and theories that proved to be correct. Lecoq de Boisbadran discovered the element gallium, the first new element discovered since Mendeleev’s table. Lastly, the Ytterby quarry was discussed and six out of the seven elements discovered in Ytterby were Mendeleev’s missing lanthanides. For me, this chapter was very interesting because I had no idea about how the buns on burner was created and I defiantly had no idea he also created the spectroscope. I thought it interesting how stubborn Mendeleev was in his beliefs to the point that the facts were changed so he could keep his table the same. Lastly, I liked the chapter overall because it was very informative in the sense that elements were used in different ways for different things.