The Disappearing Spoon Ch. 13

Summary

The world of the periodic table has not only politics and world history involved, but also has a long relationship with money. Sometimes, people have been fooled about thinking they have a certain precious metal, when they have another cheaper metal. King midas many think was responsible for discovering the black lead, which is graphite, white lead which is poisonous. This was not true. Others even believe that he discovered tin which is not true, only that it was found in his land. The combination of bronze and brass created to gold touch of the king.

The book follows up with the catastrophic gold rushes that costed the lives of many people. Three lucky guys that found gold created the desire for this precious metal. Many towns began to be created due to this boom in material. Fool’s gold distracted many, but most kept on digging for more easy money. Gold cannot be found in rock sediments since it has a hard time bonding with elements. The only element capable of bonding with gold is tellurium. The coinage was once of pure silver called electrum, but later, made it of cheaper material. Soon, and even in contemporary times, there is paper money which is cheaper than paying for metal ores and mines. Europium atoms create lower energy light that is used in common European currency. Aluminum at some point was more expensive than Gold, but after a while of chemists playing and experimenting on it, made it available to the public. An American chemist then revolutionized this metal’s production which was cheap and made it cheap.

Reflection

The chapter begins with the incorporation of the mythical and legendary king Midas who transformed everything into gold. The book puts an end to the myth and explains how the golden touch many thought that Midas had, was only a combination of bronze and brass. Then the chapter follows with more myth talking about the mystical and legendary city of gold but compares it to the nasty gold rushes. It is funny to know how many of the rocks that campers used were pure tons of gold and did not even notice. They kept on digging and had to fortune at their feet. It is sad but fortunate to know that some people like Primo Levi who were incarcerated in the concentration camps used their intellect just like the knowledge of Cerium to light up like matches get his enough food portions to survive until the Soviet Union liberated them.