The Periodic Table

[misinglink15]

I was first introduced to Mr. Bronowski through one of the symphony of science videos. I'm really enjoying his "The Ascent of Man" stuff. A shame I didn't know about him sooner...

[lassermaable]

The video is so awesome! Thanks for the upload!

I just wanted to know the advantages of Mendleef's table! Anyone please upload some video related to it! Still I love this video! Thank you so much :)

[clodoff3]

I'm a theoretical physicist today, and I owe it all to Jacob Bronownski....he is my inspiration since I was a young teenager....amazing thinker and human!

[MrRobotoToo]

The discovery of this pattern was one of the great turning points in the history of science: it was strongly suggestive of a hidden structure at the heart of matter. Something similar is going on today: in the Standard Model of particle physics the elementary particles occur in three repeating generations. There currently is no satisfactory explanation for this pattern. There are great discoveries yet to be made.

[estragon9]

I'm really surprised and happy to see how many people remember growing up with Bronowski, I totally agree we need a voice of reason like his. I feel like science and reason are under attack in a way that hasn't been seen since Galileo.

[AlbertX78]

IIt's funny, that he is polish and i'm too, but i don't understand, what he saying about :(

[ericscerri]

Yes, Bronowski was great. I grew up watching the episodes of his series in the UK.

For the full story on the periodic table, please see the great book,

Eric Scerri, The Periodic table, Its Story and Its Significance, Oxford University Press, 2007

[thernex]

With "The Ascent of Man" Jacob Bronowski shared his personal views with the public, which is very amazing for a serious scientist. I think that exactly this made it so interesting and compelling. I have seen all episodes, and none of them were boring. Jacob was a great storyteller. I'd like to see more like that on today's television programs. But unfortunately watching people locked in a house for months seems to be more interesting.

[wardancer]

Why did he miss out Neon and Argon? Had the inert gases not been discovered when this program was made?

[snoopdiggybob]

@wardancer When the Bronowski's program was made, yes. But not when Mendeleev did his pioneering work in the mid 1800's.

[wardancer]

@snoopdiggybob thanks, appreciate that.

[jonessg3]

@wardancer it wasn't that the noble gases wern't discovered at the time of the programme, it was that they weren't known in Mendeleev's time. As Bronowski was demonstrating Mendeleev's thinking, that was why they were omitted. In the late 18th century Cavendish had noted some anomolies in the density of what was thought to be pure nitrogen from the air compated to that produced from reactions, but it wasn't until the late 19th century that the first noble gas was isolated.

[peymaania]

I loved this series too, but his views are outdated for today's science. Of course

I love the way he pronounces his "R's."

I imagine the Periodic table will not go out

of fashion anytime soon.

[ryujio85]

Care to elaborate as to what views are outdated?

[peymaania]

Not the Chemistry, Chemistry has not changed much for the past 100 so years. The physics part...I am not a physicist, but you should read the last two editions of Scientific American regarding the theory of relativity and string theory,

and other theories. Good Luck!

[inuyasha116]

why is is Ci on the perodic table

[SpaceCarnivora]

We need people like Bronowski, Sagan, Attenborough and Dawkins more then ever.

[kjlg74]

Awesome! I must find and watch this series. From the few clips I've seen, including this one, it looks great.

[LMB222]

I ensure you the entire series is great. I watched it from the beginning after I finished the last episode.

[Pathagarus]

Bronowski FTW!!!

[TheBowerbird]

I owe an unpayable debt to Mr. Bronowski for profoundly shaping the way that I view and approach the world. Truly, he was a paragon of what a human can and should be.

[PC3900]

Bronowski had a profound impact on me when I saw this series in the mid 1970s.

[whirlpoolzend]

I was watching this episode last night (from my box-set) and am pleased to see it on the You Tube. It is good to remember that Science can be every bit as mysterious as the ethereal... and maybe we have two eyes for both?

"Knowledge is an unending adventure at the edge of uncertainty." Jacob Bronowski